jz^a^^-^ 


\ 


.  QUTEKUNST     PRH 


FRANCIS    WHAETON. 


A  MEMOIR. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
1891. 


7VX/ 


PREFACE. 


IN"  preparing  a  Memoir  of  DR.  WnARTOisr  several 
difficulties  beset  the  compiler  at  the  very  outset.  To 
do  justice  to  his  character,  to  relate  with  anything  like 
accuracy  the  achievements  of  his  busy  and  useful  life, 
must  require  some  knowledge  in  each  of  the  varied 
departments  where  he  labored  so  successfully.  As  this 
is  not  to  be.  looked  for  in  any  one  person,  it  has  been 
thought  best  to  make  these  pages  a  joint  effort;  to  rely 
more  for  information  upon  the  combined  testimony 
of  many  than  upon  the  insufficient  knowledge  and 
perhaps  undue  partiality  of  one ;  to  give  by  means  of 
letters,  and  personal  tributes,  and  printed  matter — 
already  published,  a  sketch  of  a  truly  remarkable  man, 
whose  influence  was  very  great  in  the  circle  of  his 
friends,  and  whose  works  take  a  high  stand  in  the  legal 
literature  of  our  country.  To  arrange  the  materials 
thus  contributed  has  not  been  a  difficult  task.  The 
materials  themselves  have  been  contributed  willingly 
by  those  who  have  had  it  in  their  power  to  do  so. 


975789 


IV  PREFACE. 

Such  a  power  has  recalled  to  them  a  loved  and  honored 
name,  and  enabled  them  to  transmit  to  others  some 
beams  of  the  sunshine  of  a  presence  whose  memory 
they  will  ever  cherish  as  one  of  their  dearest  posses 
sions. 


CONTENTS. 


PACK 

CHAPTER  I.  Ancestors ."1 

II.  Early  Life  .  .....         6 

"       III.  Life  in  Philadelphia 13 

IV.  Life  at  Gambler,  0 27 

Y.  Visit  to  Europe  in  1859 90 

"       VI.  Life  at  Gambier — concluded        .         .         .         .150 

l(  VII.  Removal  to  Brookline,  Second  Visit  to  Europe, 
Life  at  Narragansett,  with  Letter  from  Rev. 
Wm.  W.  Newton,  D.D.  .  .  .  .  165 

"  VIII.     Life  at  Cambridge,  by  Rev.  A.  V.  G.  Allen,  D.D.     176 

"       IX.     Third   Journey   to    Europe,   and    Removal   to 

Washington 193 

"  X.  Life  at  the  Department  of  State,  by  Hon.  John 
Bassett  Moore,  Third  Assistant  Secretary  of 
State  .  211 

APPENDIX. 

Letters,  etc.,  from  President  Welling,  of  Columbia  College, 
Hon.  T.  P.  Bayard,  Secretary  of  State,  Hon.  Robt.  C. 
Winthrop,  Ex-President  Porter,  of  Yale  College,  etc.  .  237 


MEMOIR 


DR.  FRANCIS  WHARTON 


CHAPTER    I. 

ANCESTORS. 

THOMAS  WHARTON,  the  earliest  ancestor  of  the  iRiii^oJi  'family 
in  this  country,  was  baptized  in  the  parish  church  of  Qrtonv Eng 
land,  in  1664.  As  baptism  in  those  days  usually  took -piace  Veiy 
•soon  after  birth,  he  must  have  emigrated  to  Pennsylvania  and  have 
become  a  Quaker  while  still  quite  young,  for  we  find  that  he  was 
married  to  Rachel  Thomas,  a  native  of  Wales,  in  Friends'  Meeting, 
Philadelphia,  in  1689.  He  became  a  member  of  the  City  Council 
of  Philadelphia,  and  was  a  well-known  and  successful  merchant, 
dying  in  1718. 

His  son,  Joseph  (1707-1776),  by  his  two  marriages  had  eighteen 
children,  a  fact  which  may  partly  account  for  the  great  size  and 
wide  ramifications  of  the  Wharton  family.  Like  his  father,  he 
was  a  prosperous  merchant,  and  a  member  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  He  built  Walnut  Grove,  the  well-known  country  seat 
where  was  held  the  Meschianza  in  1778,  and  the  site  of  which  is 
now  occupied  by  the  school-house  on  Fifth  Street  below  Washing 
ton  Avenue.  The  so-called  '  Meschianza'  need  not  be  described 
here ;  it  will  be  remembered  as  a  sort  of  fete  arranged  by  the 
unfortunate  Major  Andre*,  and  given  to  the  British  officers  and 
loyal  ladies  of  Philadelphia  on  May  18,  1778,  while  the  Revolu 
tionists  were  actually  attacking  the  city. 

Joseph  Wharton  was  commonly  called  the  'Duke/  partly  on 
account  of  his  extreme  pride  and  dignity  of  manner,  and  partly 
1 


Z  MEMOIR   OF 

perhaps  from  his  claimed  descent  from  the  last  Marquis  and  Duke 
of  W barton,  whose  coat  of  arms  with  the  motto  "  Plesyrs  et 
Faites  d'Armes"  he  always  used,  though  an  equally  proud  de 
scendant  of  his  refused  to  bear  it.  Dr.  Wharton  was  fond  of 
relating  old  family  anecdotes,  which  have  been  handed  down  to 
us  as  to  the  '  Duke's'  very  un-Quakerlike  love  of  pomp. 

The  first  wife  of  Joseph  Wharton,  Hannah  Carpenter,  was  the 
mother  of  his  son  Isaac  (1745—1808),  who  married  Margaret 
Rawle.  He  was  the  first  owner  of  the  beautiful  country  seat 
'Woodford,'  now  inclosed  in  Fairmount  Park,  which  adjoined 
'Harley,'  the  seat  of  his  wife's  family,  the  Rawles.  Woodford 
was  built  as  a  refuge  from  the  yellow  fever  then  devastating 
Philadelphia,  so  far  was  it  thought  from  the  city  which  now  has 
encroached  upon  its  lawns. 

His  son,  Thomas  Isaac  (1791-1856),  was  the  father  of  the  sub 
ject  of  this  memoir.  No  better  account  of  his  life  can  be  given 
than  thai  wi'iiten  by  Dr.  Wharton  for  the  ( Wharton  Book.' 
1 1  "  Ife  graduated  at  an  early  age  at  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
nttm?a,  afcd.fcbGrtly  after  graduating,  began  the  study  of  law  in  the 
office  of  his  uncle,  Mj*.  William  Rawle,  then  a  lawyer  of  large 
practice  in  Philadelphia,  and  previously  district  attorney  under 
Washington's  administration.  In  the  war  of  1812,  Mr.  Wharton 
served  as  a  captain  of  infantry,  and  was  engaged,  with  his  company, 
in  the  duties  at  Camp  Dupont.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  began 
the  practice  of  law  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of 
his  age  married  Arabella,  second  daughter  of  Mr.  John  Griffith,  a 
merchant  of  Philadelphia,  son  of  the  attorney-general  of  New 
Jersey,  of  the  same  name,  and  brother  of  Judge  William  Griffith, 
a  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  author  of 
several"  law  treatises.  Mr.  Wharton  was  a  diligent  and  discrimi 
nating  student,  and  at  an  early  period  of  his  life  was  distinguished 
for  his  literary  taste  and  skill.  He  was  one  of  the  contributors  to 
the  '  Portfolio,'  under  Mr.  Dennie's  management,  and  he  became 
afterwards  one  of  the  editors  of  the  '  Analectic  Magazine.'  It  was 
to  law,  however,  that  his  studies  were  principally  given ;  and  in 
this  department  they  bore  ripe  fruit.  To  him,  in  connection  with 
his  uncle,  Mr.  Rawle,  and  Judge  Joel  Jones,  the  codification  of  the 
civil  statutes  of  Pennsylvania  was  committed ;  and  the  code  they 
reported,  a  document  much  in  advance  of  the  legislation  of  the 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  3 

day,  is  marked  by  the  impress  of  their  wisdom,  learning,  and  skill. 
He  was  the  author  of  the  first  edition  of  Wharton's  Digest,  and  of 
the  six  volumes  of  Wharton's  Reports.  In  addition  to  these  works, 
several  historical  and  literary  addresses  are  in  print  bearing  his 
name;  addresses  marked  by  strong  sense,  clear  thought,  and  a 
nervous  and  elegant  style.  Mr.  Wharton's  chief  labors,  however, 
were  given  to  his  profession,  in  which  he  acquired,  chiefly  as 
counsel  on  matters  of  title,  a  large  and  commanding  practice.  In 
politics  he  was  attached  to  the  Whig  party  during  its  existence,  and 
was  a  personal  and  political  friend  of  Mr.  Clay.  On  the  dissolu 
tion  of  the  Whig  party,  his  attachments  and  constitutional  prin 
ciples  led  him  to  unite  with  leading  members  of  that  party  in 
union  with  the  Democratic.  He  died  on  April  7th,  1856,  leaving 
behind  him  the  reputation  not  only  of  high  legal  abilities,  but  of 
spotless  integrity  and  of  undaunted  courage  in  the  performance  of 
duty.  Of  purity  and  usefulness  in  domestic  relations  no  truer  ex 
ample  could  be  found." 

Mr.  Thomas  I.  Wharton  left  the  Society  of  Friends,  of  course, 
when  he  bore  arms  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  he  further  ratified  his 
return  to  the  church  of  his  forefathers,  of  which  his  son  was  to  be 
so  faithful  a  champion,  by  "  marrying  out  of  meeting."  His  wife 
was  an  Episcopalian,  and  they  were  married  in  old  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  that  quaint  little  building  which 
still  stands  close  to  the  edge  of  the  Delaware,  but  is  now  used  as  a 
school-house. 

This  is  a  brief  account  of  the  direct  male  ancestors  of  Dr. 
Whartou.  He  was  wont  to  remark  of  them  that  not  one  had 
lived  to  be  seventy  years  of  age,  and  to  predict  of  his  own  future, 
what  has  been  too  sadly  verified. 

The  family  genealogy,  however,  contains  a  number  of  interesting 
men  from  whom  Dr.  Wharton  was  not  directly  descended,  but  of 
whom  he  frequently  spoke  in  that  charming  manner  which  made 
all  family  annals  interesting. 

Among  these,  the  best  known  is  Thomas  Wharton,  the  first 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania  under  the  Constitution  of  '76,  who  was 
from  his  early  manhood  a  prominent  supporter  of  the  colonies,  and 
whose  name  is  handed  down  as  one  of  the  foremost  men  in  Phila 
delphia  of  his  day.  His  career  is  too  well  known  to  require  re-cap 
itulation  here — an  admirable  sketch  of  his  life  has  been  reprinted 


4  MEMOIR   OF 

from  the  '  Historical  Magazine/  and  may  be  found  in  the  '  Wharton 
Book.'*  But  some  of  Dr.  Wharton's  Family,  who  are  not  so  well 
remembered,  were  men  of  remarkable  ability  and  individuality,  in 
whom  we  may  see  family  traits  which  reappeared  in  later  days. 

One  of  these  interesting  characters  was  Robert  Wharton,  a  son 
of  Joseph  Wharton,  but  who  left  no  descendants.  He  was  a  man 
of  rare  gifts,  who  in  early  life  was,  curiously  enough,  apprenticed 
to  a  hatter,  partly  from  a  distaste  for  study,  but  also  following  a 
custom  set  by  William  Penn.  He  did  not  long  practice  his  trade, 
of  which  in  later  life  he  was  never  ashamed  (having  his  share  of 
the  '  Wharton  pride7),  although  he  became  successively  alderman 
and  several  times  Mayor  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  also  Colonel 
of  the  City  Troop.  For  some  very  striking  instances  of  his  courage 
and  sagacity  in  connection  with  the  yellow  fever  in  Philadelphia,  the 
shipping  riots,  and  the  war  of  1812,  see  the  '  Wharton  Book/ 

Samuel  Wharton,  a  great-uncle  of  Dr.  Wharton,  was  another 
man  of  prominence  in  his  day,  a  member  of  the  City  Councils,  of 
the  Colonial  and  State  Legislatures,  and  of  other  important  corpo 
rations.  He  was  a  correspondent  of  Benjamin  Franklin  as  to  the 
'  Ohio  Company/  a  project  for  populating  the  bank  of  the  Ohio 
River  which  came  to  nothing,  owing  to  the  Revolution.  He  was 
always  foremost  in  Revolutionary  matters,  and  a  distinguished 
scholar  as  well  as  successful  merchant. 

Dr.  Wharton's  uncle  and  godfather,  Francis  Rawle  Wharton, 
of  whom  he  always  spoke  with  peculiar  affection,  was  a  man  of 
great  distinction  in  his  day,  and  among  more  or  less  distant  cousins 
may  be  mentioned  the  eminent  lawyer,  George  M.  Wharton,  Wil 
liam  Wharton,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Hicksite  branch  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  and  many  others  celebrated  in  the  annals  of 
Philadelphia.f 

*  "  Genealogy  of  the  Wharton  Family  of  Philadelphia,  1664  to  1880,  by 
Anne  H.  Wharton,  member  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Philadelphia." 
Philadelphia,  1880. 

f  His  brother,  Henry  Wharton,  also  must  be  enrolled  among  the  distin 
guished  lawyers  of  the  family.  To  quote  from  a  leading  journal :  "  He  was 
a  man  of  profound  learning,  sound  judgment,  and  acute  and  subtle  power  of 
analysis,  detecting  the  weak  points  in  an  adversary's  argument,  and  strength 
ening  his  own  by  citation  of  authorities."  Full  of  bright  and  caustic  wit, 
on  the  rare  occasions  when  he  used  it  to  ridicule  bad  law,  his  criticisms  were 
very  pungent  and  effective.  See  Philadelphia  Ledger  and  Transcript  of  No 
vember  12,  1880. 


DE.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  5 

It  may  be  added  that  nothing  of  special  interest  has  ever  been 
discovered  of  the  Wharton  Family  in  England  before  the  emigra 
tion  of  Thomas,  the  son  of  Richard  Wharton,  of  Orton,  West 
moreland.  Dr.  Wharton  had  in  his  possession,  however,  a  very 
quaint  old  print  given  him  by  a  friend,  a  collector,  representing 
the  two  daughters  of  Philip,  the  Lord  Wharton  of  the  days  of 
Charles  II.,  one  of  whom  by  a  curious  coincidence  is  named 
<  Philadelphia/ 

From  Dr.  Wharton's  ancestors  thus  catalogued,  we  may  gather 
many  traits  reproduced  in  their  descendant.  To  the  industry  and 
thrift  that  marked  the  colonist  followers  of  William  Penn,  and 
that  also  characterized  him,  may  be  added  a  certain  love  of  novelty 
and  adventure,  which,  wrhile  it  never  interfered  with  or  effaced  his 
love  of  his  early  home,  still  gave  him  peculiar  enjoyment  in  the 
fresh  and  changing  scenes  among  which  his  lot  was  cast.  We  also 
find  much  in  him  that  partook  of  his  father's  nature.  Mr.  Thomas 
I.  Wharton  was  possessed  of  great  natural  sagacity,  a  strong  sense 
of  humor,  and  unbounded  honesty.  He  was  known,  both  inside 
his  own  circle  and  without  it,  as  strictly,  sometimes  severely  just. 
From  the  keen  criticism  of  his  caustic  wit,  any  attempt  at  sub 
terfuge,  or  double-dealing  fled  away  disappointed.  This  does  not 
sound  like  the  description  of  a  brilliant  and  successful  lawyer,  but 
it  was  in  his  case  true.  His  son,  also,  had  an  aptitude  for  detecting 
fraud,  and  an  enjoyment  of  the  humorous  side  of  things,  which 
was  not  always  to  the  liking  of  those  with  whom  he  dealt.  While 
his  tenderness  ever  leaned  to  the  fondest  indulgence  of  those  he 
loved,  yet  he  could  not  always  restrain  himself  from  pointing  out 
their  peculiarities,  and  this  created  offence,  or  rather  distrust  among 
those  not  discerning  enough  to  understand  him.  Among  his  oppo 
nents,  that  is  in  Church  and  State,  nothing  was  more  dreaded  than  a 
touch  of  his  gentle,  but  none  the  less  powerful  sarcasm.  By  an 
epithet  well  chosen,  and  yet  good-natured,  he  would  often  dissolve 
an  affectation,  or  an  error,  more  speedily  than  would  have  been 
possible  in  months  of  argument.  While  from  his  father  he  in 
herited  this  clear  insight,  there  was  much  in  Dr.  Wharton's  char 
acter  that  we  can  trace  to  his  mother  alone. 

This  lady,  Miss  Arabella  Griffith,  of  Burlington,  had  inherited 
from  her  family  a  powerful  imagination,  a  strong  poetic,  talent,  a 
love  of  beauty,  and  a  literary  dexterity,  which  had  she  possessed 


6  MEMOIR   OF 

ordinary  health  would  have  placed  her  name  among  the  authoresses 
of  our  country.  As  it  was,  her  life  was  passed  in  a  sick  room. 
Always  an  invalid,  she  has  nevertheless  left  much  that  her  friends 
value.  Letters,  musical  compositions,  and  books  which,  though 
never  printed,  show  considerable  ability  with  her  pen.  In  addi 
tion  to  this  her  temperament  was  of  a  peculiarly  attractive  and 
endearing  nature.  Sensitive  and  loving  as  a  child,  she  had  great 
need  in  her  long  life  of  seclusion  and  sometimes  suffering  of  a 
strong  religious  faith.  This  she  possessed,  and  it  brightened  and 
elevated  her  whole  character.  Her  room  was  the  chosen  resort  of 
many  tried  and  valued  friends,  whose  faith  she  strengthened  by 
her  wise  counsels,  and  whose  more  arduous  and  active  life  she 
sustained  by  the  example  of  cheerfulness  and  patience  she  ever 
gave  them.  She  had  a  peculiar  gift  of  conversation,  her  reading 
was  extensive,  and  as  her  mind  was  ever  interested  in  what  was 
passing  around  her,  she  was  regarded  by  all  who  knew  her  as  a 
most  instructive  and  delightful  companion.  A  lady  relates  of  the 
extreme  amiability  of  her  disposition  that  she  was  unable  to  recall 
any  time  in  which  she  had  seen  her  out  of  temper.  One  day, 
after  having  herself  received  extreme  provocation,  she  was  giving 
an  account  of  the  affair  to  her  sympathizing  invalid  friend.  Upon 
concluding  she  said,  "Now,  Mrs.  Wharton,  would  you  not  have 
felt  angry  ?"  "  Oh,  my  dear  child,"  said  the  patient  listener,  "  it 
is  a  great  many  years  since  I  have  felt  angry."  With  this  sweet 
ness  of  temper,  however,  was  united  a  certain  timidity,  which  often 
led  her  to  a  misconception  of  her  son's  brilliant  and  less  guarded 
speech.  There  are  letters  found  among  his  papers  in  the  faded  ink 
of  fifty  'years  ago,  in  which  she  urges  him  to  be  more  prudent,  and 
to  restrain  the  too  great  freedom  with  which  he  expressed  himself. 
That  these  letters  were  taken  in  good  part,  is  evidenced  by  the 
care  with  which  they  are  preserved,  and  the  memory  of  a  mother's 
love  clings  around  their  pages  still.  Thus  we  find,  that  our  friend 
derived  from  his  parents  a  blended  character.  Like  his  father, 
keen,  penetrating,  strong  in  intellect,  with  a  taste  for  philosophical 
research,  and  unbounded  industry — like  his  mother,  gentle,  loving, 
with  a  gift  of  poetic  fancy,  and  a  peculiar  felicity  of  expression,  it 
is  not  surprising  that  his  career,  although  moulded  greatly  by  out 
ward  circumstances,  and  controlled  by  an  irresistible  Providence, 
should  be  such  an  one  as  is  well  worthy  of  our  best  efforts  to 
record. 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON. 


CHAPTER    II. 

EARLY   LIFE. 

can  find  in  referring  to  the  early  life  of  Dr.  Whar-ton,  of 
course,  not  many  persons  who  are  old  enough  to  remember  with 
accuracy  his  boyhood,  and  fewer  still  who  can  remember  his  child 
hood.  There  are  some,  however,  who  tell  us  that  sixty  years  ago 
(he  was  born  March  7,  1820,  in  that  old  Philadelphia  mansion, 
fronting  on  Walnut  Street,  and  directly  opposite  to  Independence 
Square)  played  and  frolicked  a  singularly  precocious  and  engaging 
child,  full  of  life  and  brightness,  and  with  a  talent  for  mischief, 
that  he  often  recalled  himself  in  later  days.  "  Once,"  he  said, 
"  while  all  the  family  were  at  church,  I  took  a  plaster  bust  of  some 
dignitary  of  the  law  from  my  father's  library,  and  finding  it  hollow 
inside,  conceived  the  idea  of  supporting  it  on  a  broomstick,  and 
exhibiting  it  at  the  parlor  window.  Here,  as  the  good  people 
returned  from  church  (from  old  St.  Peter's  and  St.  James7),  they 
were  edified  by  the  sight  of  Blackstone  or  Coke  dancing  violently 
up  and  down,  and  showing  a  vivacity  as  a  ghost  that  he  certainly 
never  manifested  in  life."  This  and  other  boyish  pranks,  while 
perfectly  harmless,  were  not  without  a  cleverness,  which  his  elders 
had  to  pretend  not  to  admire.  They  were  the  overflow  of  an 
extremely  active  mind,  and  the  recreation  from  studies  of  an  extra 
ordinary  nature  in  one  so  young.  An  aged  lady,  a  friend  of  his 
mother's,  relates  how  upon  a  visit  to  the  house  the  door  opened 
and  a  small  light-haired  child  of  nine  or  ten  years  came  in,  carry 
ing  a  load  of  books  in  his  arms.  "  Well,  Frank,  what  have  you 
been  reading?"  said  his  mother.  "Well,  mother,  I  have  just  fin 
ished  all  these  books,  and  the  one  I  like  best  is  Watts  on  the 
Mind,"  was  the  astounding  and  wellnigh  incredible  reply.  That  a 
child  so  young  should  be  attracted  at  all  by  a  treatise  such  as  that 
of  Watts,  is  only  to  be  accounted  for  in  the  same  way  that  we 
account  for  the  fact  that  Mozart  read  difficult  music  at  the  same 
age,  and  Goethe  composed  poems  and  plays.  There  seems  to  be  in 


8  MEMOIR   OF 

some  cases  a  wonderful  maturity  of  understanding  in  a  youthful 
genius,  that  while  even  the  words  of  a  writer  may  not  be  quite 
understood,  the  idea  is  grasped,  and  the  subject  affords  interest. 
Just  as  in  a  foreign  tongue  books  have  often  the  power  to  charm 
us,  of  which  not  every  word  is  fully  intelligible.  The  writings  of 
Dr.  Wharton  in  later  life  have  often  excited  surprise  by  their  won 
derful  scope  and  variety,  by  the  amount  of  labor,  and  the  power 
of  memory  they  involve.  This  will  be  the  less  remarkable  when 
we  see  him  thus  in  earliest  boyhood  storing  his  mind  with  the 
best  and  most  thoughtful  of  writers.  At  a  time  when  most  young 
people  are  in  the  pursuit  of  enjoyment,  or  forced  to  unwilling  tasks, 
study  was  to  him  a  pleasure.  Books  were  his  constant  companions. 
His  life  was  passed  either  with  a  book  or  a  pen.  His  memory 
never  failed  to  preserve  and  record  what  his  diligence  thus  gained. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  entered  Yale  College  and  graduated 
in  1839.  Of  his  college  days,  but  few  records  remain.  They  are 
principally  marked  in  such  memorials  as  we  have,  by  loving  and 
wise  letters  from  his  mother  to  him,  full  of  counsel  and  religious 
appeal.  Their  fruit  was  seen  in  his  increasing  steadiness  and 
sobriety  of  character,  though  he  was  always  a  model  of  what  is 
usually  considered  praiseworthy  in  a  young  man.  The  following 
letter  will  show,  however,  how  high  was  his  mother's  standard  of 
excellence  : — 

DEAREST  FRANK  : 

I  need  not  tell  you  what  a  source  of  deep  and  intense  interest 
you  are  to  me  now.  Formerly,  only  my  own  honor  and  interests 
were  involved  in  your  well-being  and  doing,  but  now  I  feel  that 
the  honor  of  a  greater  and  higher  than  I  is  involved  in  your  walk 
and  conduct.  Though  you  have  not  gone  through  the  mere  cere 
mony  of  making  a  profession  of  religion  in  confirmation,  yet  you 
have,  with  all  the  warmth  and  ingenuousness  of  youth,  openly 
and  honestly  expressed  yourself,  and  thereby  avowed  yourself  a 
Christian.  Now  the  honor  of  Christ  is  involved  in  every  Christian's 
profession,  and  you  honor  or  dishonor  Him  by  your  walk  and  con 
versation.  Indeed  the  whole  Christian  community  suffers  more  or 
less  from  the  unfaithfulness  or  carelessness  of  Christian  professors. 
i  What  are  these  wounds  in  Thy  hands?'  says  the  prophet  by  in 
spiration.  '  Those  with  which  I  was  wounded  in  the  house  of  my 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  9 

friends'  is  Christ's  touching  answer.  Oh,  then,  how  carefully 
should  we  guard  against  wounding  our  blessed  Saviour  by  levity, 
folly,  or  any  other  besetting  sin,  which  can  dishonor  a  Christian 
in  the  sight  of  the  world,  and  through  him  his  Master.  For  the 
first  time  in  your  life  you  are  placed  in  a  responsible  situation. 
This  should  lead  you,  dearest  Frank,  to  great  heart-searching  and 
circumspection,  and  your  mother  is  willing  to  assist  you  in  the  task, 
by  unveiling  to  you  the  foibles,  which  are  visible  to  every  eye,  in 
one  so  unguarded  as  yourself,  and  which  almost  neutralize  the  effect 
which  the  example  of  your  early  piety  might  have  upon  others.  It 
is  not  vices  I  have  to  caution  you  about,  but  foibles — not  life,  but 
conversation.  And  inasmuch  as  it  is  in  the  family  circle  almost 
exclusively  that  the  life  is  manifested,  the  world  must  mainly  judge 
of  a  Christian  by  his  conversation.  Oh,  my  darling  Acky,  here  it 
is  you  mainly  err.  It  was  always  your  besetting  sin.  I  mean  a 
trifling,  vain,  desultory  bizarre  mode  of  talking.  Now  a  profes 
sion  of  religion  always  implies  seriousness,  so  much  so  that  a  person's 
making  such  a  profession  is  usually  indicated  or  expressed  thus  : 
1  Such  an  one  has  become  serious/  as  if  religion  and  seriousness  were 
synonymous.  Sometimes  when  I  hear  you  rattling  on,  forgetful  of  all 
your  dignity  and  responsibility  as  a  Christian,  I  doubt  and  despair; 
but  then  I  take  courage  immediately  when  I  look  upon  your  sweet 
and  altered  deportment  at  home.  Unfortunately  you  bestoAv  the 
chief  of  your  headlong  vanity  or  levity  upon  strangers,  who  can 
form  no  estimate  of  the  real  excellence  of  your  home  character. 
Added  to  this,  my  darling  Acky,  you  have  so  much  self-love,  that 
when  I  attempt  to  tell  you  truths  which  none  but  a  mother  will  tell 
you,  you  shrink  as  from  a  surgeon's  knife — you  change  the 
conversation  as  quick  as  lightning — instead  of  being  desirous  of 
probing  yourself  and  knowing  the  whole  truth.  Oh  !  my  son, 
study  seriousness  ;  keep  a  perpetual  watch  over  your  words  ;  never 
fly  from  a  subject  until  it  has  been  soberly  discussed,  and,  above 
all,  be  backward  in  expressing  opinions  upon  subjects  with  which 
you  are  but  partially  acquainted,  and,  as  a  general  rule,  be  modest 
and  reserved  in  conversation  ;  remember,  '  shallow  brooks  babble, 
deep  waters  are  still.'  And  of  one  thing  be  certain,  God,  through 
the  agency  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  which  is  even  now  at  work  in  your 
heart,  can  alone  work  this  change  in  you.  I  don't  want  you  to  be 
forever  talking  of  religion,  but  I  want  a  solid,  thoughtful,  serious 


10  MEMOIR   OF 

demeanor,  which  a  sincere  conviction  of  your  own  unworthiness 
must  ever  produce ;  if  you  were  truly  humble,  you  would  shrink 
from  display.  May  God  open  your  eyes,  and  give  you  such  a 
deep  conviction  of  sin,  and  such  a  realizing  sense  of  eternity,  and 
such  an  abiding  sense  of  the  indwelling  of  a  crucified  Redeemer 
that  your  conversation  may  bear  the  impress  of  your  heart !  And 
while  I  admonish  you,  my  dear  son,  may  my  own  soul  take  warn 
ing,  and  may  He  grant  me  a  portion  of  that  wisdom  from  on  high 
I  so  earnestly  bespeak  for  you,  and  which  my  present  humble 
effort  is  intended  to  lead  you  to  seek  !  God  will  look  for  far 
greater  Christian  perfection  from  your  generation  than  from  the 
past,  for  never  were  there  such  Christian  privileges  since  the  days 
of  the  Apostles,  and  you  must  look  to  the  annals  of  your  Saviour 
for  a  far  higher  example  than  the  writer  of  this  letter  has  been  able 
to  set  before  you,  however  sincere  may  have  been  the  desire  of 
walking  before  her  children  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  of  teaching 
them  so  to  walk.  You  must'  look  within  you  also,  for  a  change 
must  be  wrought  also  within  yourself.  By  your  incongruous  mixture 
of  levity  and  religion,  of  truth  and  folly,  you  dishonor  Christ  and 
your  profession.  Religion  is  a  transaction  between  the  soul  and 
God,  and  having  once  set  your  seal  upon  it,  it  is  your  part  to  act 
conscientiously,  as  one  who  is  accountable  to  the  Lord  of  the  Vine 
yard.  Let  your  conversation  be  modest  and  retiring,  never  shrink 
ing  from  confessing  Christ  when  you  are  called  upon,  but  shrink 
ing  from  ostentation  and  vain  display.  You  will  perceive,  dearest 
Frank,  that  this  whole  letter  is  addressed  to  one  who  has  made  a 
commencement  in  the  religious  life.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  you 
have  received  into  your  heart  the  great  elementary  principles  of 
religion  ;  that  the  way  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ  has  been 
manifested  to  you,  and  that  your  foundation  is  right.  My  own 
conviction  is,  and  I  have  formed  it  with  great  deliberation,  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  at  work  in  your  heart,  that  He  is  striving  with 
you,  and  the  chief  object  of  this  letter  is  to  caution  you  lest  by  a 
vain,  light,  and  presumptuous  course  you  alienate  Christ's  Comforter 
and  great  Teacher.  For  the  man  who  calls  himself  a  Christian  is 
a  spectacle  to  angels  and  to  men,  and  he  cannot  .take  a  step  that 
does  not  involve  Christ  and  His  church.  And  now,  my  beloved 
darling  son,  now  that  you  have  implicated  and  identified  yourself 
with  Christ  and  his  flock,  beware  how  you  walk  and  how  you  talk. 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  11 

You  are  not  your  own,  but  bought  with  a  great  price,  even  the 
blood  of  the  Son  of  God.  You  are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
what  manner  of  conversation  then  ought  yours  to  be  ? 

I  cannot  part  with  you  without  once  more  testifying  to  your 
sweet  and  amiable  character  and  conduct  at  home,  and  it  is  upon 
the  great  change  that  has  taken  place  in  you  in  this  respect,  that  I 
build  the  chief  of  my  hopes.  Nothing  but  the  hand  of  God  could 
have  made  you  what  you  are.  And,  dearest  Frank,  if  ever  a  son 
had  a  mother's  prayers  it  is  you,  and  with  the  hope  that  you  will 
forgive  me,  if  I  have  been  too  plain  spoken,  and  that  you  will 
write  me  a  very  sweet  letter  of  thanks,  for  indeed  I  deserve  it,  I 
remain  yours  ever  affectionately  and  faithfully,  as  none  other  ever 

can  be  to  you. 

A.  G.  AV. 

This  letter,  as  will  be  readily  perceived,  was  written  to  him  dur 
ing  a  college  vacation  passed  away  from  home.  It  is  also  the  first 
intimation  Ave  have  of  his  dawning  interest  in  religious  subjects, 
soon  to  become  the  ruling  if  not  absorbing  -  interest  of  his  life. 
There  are  several  other  letters  from  his  mother  in  the  same  strain 
and  showing  the  same  faithful  dealing  of  parental  love.  There 
are  also  letters  solicitous  for  his  health,  which  did  not  seem  to  be 
strong,  but  there  are  no  injunctions  to  study ;  that  was  plainly  a 
duty  he  performed  only  too  energetically.  His  mother  writes, 
"  Pray  do  not  over  study.  I  do  not  care  for  your  obtaining  mere 
nominal  honors.  You  say  some  of  the  young  men  sit  up  till 
twelve  at  night,  rising  at  half-past  four  or  five.  This  would  soon 
wear  you  out.  Do  go  to  bed  early — promise  me  this.  I  did 
nothing  but  dream  of  you  all  last  night.  I  thought  you  came 
home  all  haggard  and  worn,  and  with  your  eye-sight  gone,  and 
I  am  superstitious  enough  to  regard  this  dream  as  a  warning." 
Another  caution  may  have  been  more  necessary.  "  From  what 
nice  young  lady  do  you  borrow  your  seal  ?  I  suppose  you  have 
heard  of  H.'s  engagement  to  S.  E.  What  an  imprudent  young 
man  !  With  seven  years  of  college  and  seminary  life  before  him 
I  really  think  he  had  better  not  have  thought  of  the  ministry,  or, 
if  that  was  impossible,  of  matrimony.  He  had  no  right  to  engage 
the  affections  and  involve  the  prospects  of  a  woman  under  existing 
circumstances.  He  should  have  shut  his  eyes  and  his  heart  and 


12  MEMOIR   OF 

his  thoughts  against  womankind  until  those  seven  years  were  past, 
and  then  at  thirty  (which  will  be  his  age  when  he  finishes  his  career), 
he  would  have  been  at  liberty.  When  you  are  three  or  four  and 
twenty  I  shall  begin  to  sermonize  you.  At  present  I  am  truly 
grateful  that  you  are  at  an  unfledged  age  ;  also  I  am  truly  grateful 
and  proud  to  say  that  you  are  not  a  goose.  I  suppose  you  cannot 
get  the  curl  out  of  your  handwriting — though  the  material  within 
proves  it  does  not  fit  your  character.  Your  father  is  very  much 
pleased  with  your  letters.  He  thinks  them  good  business  letters, 
and  that  from  him  is  great  praise." 

These  extracts  go  to  show  the  good  understanding  between 
mother  and  son ;  the  anxious  care  for  his  temporal  and  also 
spiritual  well-being  on  her  part  and  the  confidence  and  docility 
on  his,  that  led  her  to  tell  him  all  her  misgivings  and  all  her  hopes 
for  him.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and 
became  a  law  student  in  his  father's  office.  He  was  also  a  constant 
attendant  at  St.  Philip's  Church,  and  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday- 
school.  His  mother's  influence,  greater  now  than  before,  was  ever 
at  hand  to  deepen  and  strengthen  the  religious  impressions  already 
received,  and  the  drf  details  of  law  study  were  followed  as  con 
scientiously  as  had  been  the  college  course.  His  impulse  was  to 
enter  the  ministry,  but  from  that  he  was  dissuaded  by  his  father, 
who  with  wiser  though  more  worldly  judgment  thought  his  gifts 
not  adapted  to  a  profession  requiring  the  constant  use  of  his  voice. 
His  physique  was  never  robust,  and  there  was  a  decided  weakness 
of  the  vocal  organs,  which  caused  him  annoyance  all  his  life,  and 
was  finally  one  among  the  several  causes  of  his  death. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  13 


CHAPTER    III. 

LIFE    IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

HM 

THE  admission  of  Dr.  Wharton  to  the  bar  in  Philadelphia,  in 
1843,  begins  a  new  phase  of  his  career.  Though  but  twenty-three 
years  old,  he  was  amply  equipped  with  legal  knowledge,  and  soon 
found  himself  with  occupation  on  his  hands.  There  is  no  need  to 
explain  this  rapid  success  beyond  the  ever  apparent  and  conspicuous 
popularity  of  his  manner,  and  the  sagacity  and  effectiveness  of  the 
counsel  he  gave.  Those  who  have  known  Dr.  Wharton  will  have 
no  difficulty  in  recalling  the  peculiar  charm  of  his  bearing.  Wise, 
kindly,  and  practical  in  the  advice  he  gave,  the  interest  he  took  in 
the  cases  submitted  to  him,  the  subtilty  with  which  he  saw  through 
complications,  and  the  encouraging  and  cheerful  view  he  took  of 
even  disastrous  possibilities,  excited  the  confidence  and  hope  of  his 
clients,  and  they  were  rarely  disappointed.  Perhaps  we  are  antici 
pating  a  little,  but  at  all  events  the  last  five  years  of  the  ten  he 
spent  as  a  practising  lawyer  in  Philadelphia  were  crowned  by  un 
usual  and  lucrative  remuneration,  and  that  is  generally  considered 
a  test  of  success.  Still  his  forte  always  lay  in  writing.  Even  at 
that  early  age  his  articles  for  magazines  and  criticisms  of  books 
were  eagerly  received  by  publishers.  There  was  a  clearness  and 
point  about  his  style,  a  vigor  and  life  about  his  expressions  that 
made  him  interesting  to  those  who  knew  very  little  about  the  tech 
nicalities  of  the  subjects  he  treated.  If  this  was  so  to  the  unini 
tiated,  how  much  more  to  those  who  were  capable  of  understanding 
and  appreciating  him  ! 

It  will  be  well,  however,  to  state  here  that  this  sketch  is  not 
intended  as  a  history,  still  less  as  a  critique  of  Dr.  Wharton's 
books;  They  have  been  too  long  before  the  profession,  and  have 
been  too  fully  commended  in  the  highest  quarters  to  make  any 
such  process  necessary.  The  purpose  of  the  present  writer  is  to 
give  merely  their  titles  and  dates  of  publication,  with  such  facts  in 
cidental  to  them  as  are  inseparably  connected  with  their  Author's 


J4  MEMOIR   OF 

life  in  other  respects.  He  lived  a  double  existence,  and  this  not 
from  choice,  but  because  his  qualities  of  heart  ever  kept  pace  with 
those  of  mind,  and  the  needs  of  a  fallen  and  suffering  humanity 
made  him  long  to  devote  all  his  powers  to  succor  and  befriend 
them.  But  in  this  purpose  his  physical  powers  fell  short — voice 
and  strength  failed  him,  and  the  leisure  thus  providentially  bestowed 
was  given  to  that  other  profession  for  which  he  was  also  so  emi 
nently  qualified.  We  quote  in  this  connection  from  one  of  the 
Church  papers  the  following  tribute  : — 

"  The  case  of  the  late  Kev.  Francis  Wharton  shows  how  possible 
it  may  be  that  a  parish  sometimes  monopolizes  a  genius  that  a 
nation  might  have  a  province  for.  Paralysis  of  the  throat  deprived 
the  pulpit  of  the  services  of  this  great  and  eminent  man,  and  at 
last  proved  fatal  to  him.  Dr.  Wharton  is  well  known  by  his 
writings,  and  he,  for  years,  has  been  the  adviser  of  the  administra 
tion  on  points  of  international  law,  in  which  intricate  and  delicate 
department  of  jurisprudence  he  was  an  acute  and  learned  specialist. 
Yet  no  doubt  had  he  chosen  his  own  life's  work  he  would  have 
preferred  the  simple  lot  of  a  parish  priest,  the  highest  lot  on  earth, 
to  which  he  was  dedicated  by  the  warm  vows  of  his  youth." 

We  subjoin  also  a  letter  from  a  life-long  friend,  Mr.  W.  Heyward 
Drayton,  of  Philadelphia,  which  has  reference  to  this  period  : — 

PHILADELPHIA,  August  19,  1889. 
MY  DEAR  MRS.  VIELE  : 

I  first  knew  your  father  when  I  began  to  study  law,  in  1842,  in 
the  office  of  your  grandfather,  Mr.  Thomas  I.  Wharton.  He  was 
then  about  twenty  years  old  and  a  most  pleasing  and  attractive 
acquaintance.  We  soon  became  fast  friends,  and  our  regard  for 
each  other  continued  to  the  end  of  his  life,  though  our  intimacy 
was  much  interfered  with  by  his  abandonment  of  Philadelphia 
as  a  residence. 

I  have  no  doubt  your  father  was  a  student  from  his  boyhood. 
While  we  were  together  in  the  office  he  not  only  studied  carefully, 
but  devoted  his  leisure  to  writing  articles  for  periodicals  of  the 
day.  I  remember  he  wrote  much  for  '  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine', 
and  though  a  very  young  man  his  articles  were  held  in  the  highest 
esteem,  and  were,  as  I  remember,  usually  assigned  the  first  place. 
Early,  too,  in  his  professional  life  he  edited  the  '  American  and 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  15 

United  States  Gazette',  then  one  newspaper,  and  about  the  same 
time  the  '  Episcopal  Recorder.'  When  I  first  knew  him  he  was  very 
religious ;  either  while  a  student  or  soon  after  becoming  a  lawyer, 
he  desired  to  give  up  law  and  study  divinity  :  he  told  me  he  sug 
gested  this  to  his  father  who  implored  him  to  abandon  it,  saying, 
"  Henry  and  you  are  my  only  sons,  he  is  a  boy,  I  don't  know  what 
his  tastes  may  be,  and  I  have  set  my  heart  on  your  continuing  in 
my  profession." 

In  deference  to  this  wish  he  continued  at  the  bar  until  his  father's 
death,  when  he  left  practice  and  became  a  clergyman. 

While  at  the  bar  he  not  only  worked  laboriously  at  his  profes 
sion,  but  found  time  to  compose  works,  both  legal  and  literary, 
indeed  continuing  to  do  so  all  his  life.  He  was  in  early  life  an 
active  Democratic  politician,  and  when  John  K.  Kane  was  appointed 
Attorney-General  of  this  State,  your  father  and  William  D.  Kelley 
became  his  assistants.  Your  father,  knowing  that  his  voice  was  not 
strong  enough  for  the  strain  of  continuous  speaking,  agreed  with 
Judge  Kelley  that  he  should  attend  to  the  court  business  generally, 
while  your  father  prepared  the  pleadings.  As  he  never  did  things 
by  halves,  this  arrangement  probably  directed  his  mind  to  the 
absence  of  any  good  book  on  Pleading  and  Practice  in  the  United 
States,  and  led  to  the  preparation  of  the  first  elaborate  treatise 
which  brought  him  fame  as  a  legal  writer.  This  work  has  passed 
through  nine  editions,  and  is  a  text-book.  From  that  time  he 
continued,  long  after  he  had  given  up  practice,  to  compose  and 
publish  works  on  legal  subjects,  until  he  became  before  his  death, 
if  not  the  most,  certainly  one  of  the  most  prolific  and  distinguished 
authors  of  law-books  in  our  country. 

I  have  referred  to  his  laborious  habits.  While  editing  it  was 
his  custom,  when  quite  young,  to  sit  up  until  the  early  morning 
hours.  Once  I  remonstrated  with  him  on  the  risk  his  health  ran 
from  this  :  he  answered,  "  Do  you  think  I  run  more  risk  than  some 
other  young  men  who  keep  about  the  same  hours,  going  to  balls 
and  suppers  ?"  I  did  not  interfere  in  this  way  again. 

Your  father  was  the  most,  perhaps  the  only  religious  man  with 
whom  I  was  thrown  much  in  early  life,  and  I  have  no  doubt  his 
precept  and  example  were  of  great  service  to  me,  as  I  know  they 
were  to  many  others,  at  that  time,  as  he  was  a  devoted  Sunday- 
school  teacher  and  superintendent. 


16  MEMOIR   OF 

In  connection  with  Mr.  Drayton's  letter  and  in  explanation  of  it, 
it  will  be  well  to  say  that  Dr.  Wharton's  political  views  were,  as  he 
states,  Democratic.  In  his  youth  he  made  several  visits  to  the 
South  and  there  saw  the  working  of  their  domestic  system  in  the 
house  of  a  dearly  loved  younger  sister,  who  was  there  happily 
married.  Not  only  did  he  see  the  colored  people  receiving  from 
her  the  care  and  instruction  their  helpless  condition  required,  but 
among  her  neighbors  and  friends  whose  cordial  hospitality  he 
enjoyed,  he  noticed  the  same  state  of  things.  It  became  with  him 
as  with  many  others,  who  were  thus  domesticated  in  the  South,  a 
serious  question  how  far  immediate  emancipation  would  really  help 
the  colored  race.  Recognizing,  as  he  did,  the  evils  of  slavery,  he 
yet  deprecated  the  use  of  violent  measures,  and  trusted  to  the 
effect  of  gradual  legislative  effort  to  remove  the  causes  of  the  bit 
terness  existing  between  North  and  South,  and  to  active  Christian 
benevolence,  and  growth  of  enlightenment  to  benefit  the  condition 
of  the  slave.  He  corresponded  with  some  of  the  political  leaders 
of  the  day.  His  role  was  ever  that  of  peace.  His  many  friends 
in  the  South,  the  high  estimation  in  which  he  held  them,  his  con 
viction  that  many  of  them  agreed  with  him,  and  lamented  truly 
the  system  which  weighed  as  heavily  on  the  master  as  on  the  slave, 
all  conspired  to  make  him  shun  extremists  on  either  side.  When 
however  twenty  years  later,  the  flames  of  war  burst  forth,  and  the 
irrepressible  conflict  was  waged,  he  gave  his  allegiance  entirely  to 
the  cause  of  Union.  A  sermon  published  in  the  second  year  of  the 
war  called  '  A  willing  re-Union  not  impossible/  gives  most  com 
pletely  his  views  on  this  point.  As  it  was,  however,  his  active 
mind  and  untiring  industry  sought  scope  in  all  the  varied  questions 
of  the  day.  As  a  friend  and  correspondent  tells  us  :  "  He  sought 
recreation  in  changing  his  work,  instead  of  stopping  it.  His  books 
and  papers  and  proof-sheets  accompanied  him  in  his  journeys  for 
business  or  pleasure,  and  many  minutes  which  by  most  men  are 
wasted  were  turned  by  him  to  good  account.  He  could  turn  in  a 
moment  from  social  engagements  to  the  work  he  had  before  him. 
Of  course  it  is  to  be  added,  he  had  great  natural  gifts.  To  a  most 
unusual  facility  and  rapidity  in  literary  work,  he  united  a  memory 
little  short  of  marvellous.  All  the  stores  of  his  observation,  his 
reflection,  and  his  reading  were  instantly  at  his  service  when 
occasion  required." 


DR.    FRAXCIS    WHARTON.  17 

Among  these  varied  pursuits,  however,  he  began  to  find  social 
relaxation  a  necessity.  For  a  time  he  allowed  himself  to  mingle 
in  Philadelphia  society,  where  he  was  always  a  favorite.  Perhaps 
no  man  ever  more  fully  united  what  seem  to  be  almost  opposing 
qualities  than  did  he.  Incessant  labor  and  dry  if  not  tedious 
details  in  the  morning ;  in  the  evening  he  was  the  sparkling  wit 
of  many  a  dinner-table,  always  welcome  as  the  most  genial  and 
entertaining  of  guests.  In  November,  1852,  he  married  Miss 
Sydney  Paul,  a  daughter  of  Comegys  Paul,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia. 
In  this  lady,  of  whose  attractive  and  endearing  qualities  there  are 
many  still  to  speak,  he  found  a  most  congenial  companion.  His 
life  was  full  now  of  work  and  of  happiness.  He  found  one 
increased  and  sustained  by  the  other.  He  entered  largely  into 
charitable  and  other  enterprises  in  his  native  city,  and  there  are 
several  well-known  and  well-established  institutions  where  his 
active  and  efficient  aid  is  to  this  day  recalled. 

As  his  life  thus  enlarged  and  widened  its  sympathies,  his  devo 
tion  to  Church  matters  gradually  increased.  In  Church  politics 
Dr.  Wharton  was  always  termed  a  'Low  Churchman.'  While  a 
member  from  preference,  from  conviction,  and  life-long  habit  of 
the  Episcopal  Church,  his  was  a  mind  too  wide  in  its  culture  and 
sympathies  to  claim  for  that  church  any  exclusive  rights,  or  to 
look  upon  it  as  even  chief  in  God's  agencies  for  regenerating  the 
world.  He  was  ever  a  cordial  admirer  of  the  great  Eeformed 
Churches,  whether  in  our  own  country  or  abroad,  as  his  writings 
will  abundantly  testify.  He  favored  great  toleration,  both  in 
doctrine  and  mechanism,  within  our  own  Church.  And  this  not 
because  his  own  scheme  of  doctrine  or  mechanism  was  uncertain, 
but  because  he  held  that  individual  minds  must  differ,  and  must 
work  more  efficiently  while  that  difference  is  recognized  than  when 
following  a  forced  uniformity.  We  can  give  a  few  extracts  here 
from  a  pamphlet  published  by  him  on  '  Voluntary  Missionary 
Societies,'  which,  although  a  little  premature  in  date,  bears  upon 
the  point  in  question. 

"  The  responsibility  of  schism  is  often  as  much  on  those  who 
drive  others  off,  as  upon  those  who  go.  The  verdict  of  posterity, 
I  cannot  but  believe,  will  be  that  the  two  most  disastrous  shocks 
which  the  Church  of  England  ever  received  arose  from  the  appli 
cation  of  the  Conformity  Acts  to  the  Puritans  in  1680,  and  to  the 
2 


18  MEMOIR   OF 

Methodists  in  1780.  These  measures  were  in  fact  a  departure  from 
the  tolerant  and  catholic  platform  which  the  Anglican  Communion, 
as  a  National  Church,  adopted  at  the  Reformation.  If  they  have 
been  peculiarly  disastrous  to  her — diminishing  her  hold  on  the 
middle  classes  and  poor,  abridging  her  practical  nationality,  sever 
ing  from  her  some  of  the  most  devoted  of  her  sons,  reducing  the 
standard  of  piety  within  her  borders — such  a  state  of  facts  goes 
no  small  way  to  prove  the  importance  of  allowing,  in  a  National 
Church,  full  liberty  in  all  matters  within  the  range  of  orthodoxy. 
But  I  pass  this  point,  for  the  purpose  of  noticing  that  the  very 
fact  of  the  communions  of  which  I  speak,  severing  themselves  on 
matters  of  temporary  controversy,  made  them,  not  national  and 
catholic,  but  eclectic.  The  very  nature  of  their  existence  renders 
it  incumbent  on  them  to  present  in  sharp  and  intolerant  precision 
the  dogmas  to  promote  which  they  seceded.  And  when  new  and 
heterogeneous,  though  orthodox  views  spring  up  in  their  own  body, 
the  remedy  is  not  to  enlarge  their  borders  so  as  to  tolerate  the  new 
opinions,  but  to  have  a  new  secession.  They  maintain  their  mis 
sionary  unity  by  breaking  their  organic  integrity. 

"  Take,  as  an  illustration  of  this,  the  Methodist  Communion.  It 
differed  in  England  from  the  Established  Church,  not  as  to  any 
question  of  doctrine,  but  as  to  the  most  efficient  way  in  which  the 
church  could  be  worked.  The  day  is  now  passed  in  which  the 
sincerity  of  John  Wesley's  attachment  to  the  principles  of  the 
Church  of  England,  as  well  as  his  noble  zeal  and  indefatigable 
industry  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  can  be  questioned.  He  was  a  great 
Missionary,  the  greatest  the  Protestant  Church  ever  knew,  and  it 
was  a  sad  day  for  our  communion  when  she  lost  him.  But  he 
went  forth — partly  impelled  by  a  too  hasty  enthusiasm — partly 
driven  ;  and  he  went  forth,  let  it  be  ever  remembered,  on  a  question 
of  missionary  mechanism.  I  will  not  stop  here  to  say  that  if  con 
scientious  and  faithful  men  can  differ  on  points  of  mere  expediency 
so  widely  as  to  make  an  ecclesiastical  separation  the  only  alternative 
to  ecclesiastical  toleration,  how  important  it  is  for  the  Church  to 
learn  wisdom  from  the  past,  and  to  grant  that  liberty  now  which 
she  refused  in  1780  !  It  is  sufficient  on  this  point  now  to  say,  that 
— as  the  Methodists  seceded  from  us  on  a  question  of  missionary 
organization, — as  their  distinctive  denominational  features  were 
thus  eclectic,  not  catholic — as  they  worked  into  their  constitution 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTOtf.  19 

one  single  and  arbitrary  method  of  church  extension,  instead  of 
yielding  to  their  constituents  a  Avise  liberty — it  was  natural  enough 
for  them  to  impose  upon  their  members  the  yoke  of  compulsory 
uniformity.  But  how  has  it  worked?  First,  in  1785,  went  off 
the  Primitive  Methodists  who  wanted  liberty  in  one  matter  of  me 
chanism.  Then  in  1792  went  the  Republican  Methodists  for  like 
reasons.  Then  in  1816  went  the  African  Methodists.  In  1819 
went  another  under  a  similar  title.  In  1820  went  the  Stillwettites. 
In  1828,  on  what  was  peculiarly  an  economical  question,  for  it 
concerned  chiefly  the  admission  of  the  local  preachers  to  an  equal 
share  of  government  with  the  itinerants,  went  the  Protestant 
Methodists.  Then  came  the  great  division  of  the  Church,  north 
and  south  ;  a  severe  shock  to  the  country  as  well  as  to  the  Methodist 
Communion,  and  one  which  could  readily  have  been  averted  had 
the  principle  of  toleration  in  non-essentials  been  maintained.  The 
consequence  is,  that  the  Methodist  Communion  has  now  fallen 
into  ten  distinct  organizations.  By  exacting  uniformity  it  has  lost 
unity. 

"  The  Romish  Church  gives  us  a  lesson  of  the  contrary  policy 
which  we  may  well  study.  That  wily,  though  dangerous  com 
munion  well  knows  that  to  preserve  dogmatic  unity  there  must  be 
missionary  freedom.  She  presents  no  less  than  three  voluntary 
foreign  missionary  societies  to  her  members,  whom  she  invites  to 
contribute  at  their  election  through  either,  the  '  Lyons'  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Faith/  the  'Leopoldine  Society/  or  the 
'  Society  of  the  Holy  Children.'  In  home  missions  she  opens  an 
almost  infinite  number  of  agencies.  The  religious  orders  sanctioned 
by  her,  each  of  which  is  a  missionary  society  in  itself,  approach  to 
nearly  one  hundred  in  number.  They  are  so  constructed  as  to 
strike  almost  every  variety  of  taste.  Persons  of  ardent  and  pas 
sionate  temper,  who  look  with  favor  upon  '  new  measures/  (as 
the  fashion  among  the  Congregationalists  has  lately  been  to  call 
them,)  she  points  to  the  Redemptionists  and  Passionists  as  forming 
organizations  which  unite  the  most  vehement  preaching  with  the 
most  dramatic  machinery.  To  the  sedate  and  contemplative,  who 
look  upon  the  propagandism  of  a  holy  and  placid  life  as  far  more 
effective  than  the  most  exciting  eloquence  or  the  most  splendid 
displays,  she  introduces  the  recluse  Carthusian,  who  never  mixes 
with  the  world  at  all,  and  the  compassionate  Carmelite,  who  mixes 


20  MEMOIR   OF 

with  it  only  in  deeds  of  mercy.  To  the  philanthropic  she  exhibits 
the  brethren  of  St.  John's  and  Camillas,  as  day  after  day  they 
pursue  their  hospital  rounds  ;  to  the  polite  and  literary,  she  presents 
the  courtly  and  accomplished  Benedictines,  at  the  same  time  the 
best  editors  of  the  classics,  and  the  feeblest  defenders  of  the  faith, 
the  Church  ever  knew. 

"  Even  in  doctrine  we  allow  a  wise  liberty  on  points  which, 
though  within  the  range  of  orthodoxy,  have  been  on  the  one  side 
or  the  other,  the  nuclei  around  which  separate  and  divergent  com 
munions  have  hung.  Our  Articles  were  meant  as  the  symbols  of 
peace  and  comprehension.  They  were  broad  enough  at  one  time 
to  shelter  the  supralapsarian  Calvinism  of  Archbishop  Whitgift. 
They  were  broad  enough  at  another  time  to  shelter  the  mild 
Arminianism  of  Seeker  and  Tillotson.  No  one  now,  it  may  be  well 
asserted,  will  maintain  that  the  positive  faith  and  burning  zeal  of 
John  Newton  were  out  of  place  in  the  communion  he  did  so  much 
to  revive.  No  one  will  assert  that  the  majestic  sense  of  Bishop 
Butler  was  out  of  place  in  the  communion  he  did  so  much  to 
adorn.  We  may  now  well  aiford  to  place  Leighton  and  Ken  alike 
within  the  sanctuary  both  of  our  affections  and  of  our  denomi 
national  sympathies,  though  the  saintly  piety  which  belonged  to 
each  was  united  to  doctrines  far  more  widely  divergent  ihan  those 
which  have  divided  sects.  'Brother  Hooper,'  said  Ridley,  'we 
have  been  two  in  white,  but  now  we  will  be  one  in  red.'  In  other 
words,  those  who  in  former  times  were  divided  as  to  Episcopal 
vestments  and  surplices,  became  afterwards  fused  by  the  fires  of 
persecution.  It  is  a  lesson  which  the  Church  has  learned  late,  but 
we  trust  is  learning  thoroughly — toleration  within  the  range  of 
orthodoxy,  liberty  in  the  choice  of  agency  for  carrying  out  her 
great  mission. 

"  But  the  question  we  now  discuss  does  not  involve  even  any  of 
the  allowable  divergences  of  doctrine.  If  it  did,  the  liberty  asked 
for  is  perfectly  defensible.  But  to  sustain  the  principle  of  com 
pulsory  uniformity  in  missions,  we  must  take  the  ground  that 
even  on  the  subject  of  mechanism  there  is  to  be  no  liberty  allowed 
to  the  convictions  of  individual  contributors.  It  will  be  enough 
to  establish,  therefore,  the  impolicy  of  such  a  system  if  we  show 
that  there  are  even  now  in  our  immediate  communion  two  schools 
of  opinion  each  widely  and  conscientiously  differing  as  to  not 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  21 

merely  the  best  but  as  to  the  only  way  in  which  the  Church  is  to 
be  successfully  pressed.  We  are  reduced,  therefore,  to  the  alter 
native  of  saying  either  that  the  Episcopal  Church  is  not  compre 
hensive  enough  to  retain  these  two  schools,  and  that  the  one  may 
therefore  justly  expel  or  silence  the  other,  or  of  conceding  that 
each  school,  in  the  exercise  of  its  own  convictions,  may  take  the 
course  to  which  it  conceives  itself  conscientiously  bound. 

"  Let  ua  consider,  however,  this  point  more  closely.  A  large 
majority  of  our  bishops,  as  is  well  known,  have  given  their  official 
sanction  to  the  opinion  that  the  Rubrics  requiring  morning  and 
evening  service,  even  on  Sunday,  are  not  imperative  in  unorganized 
congregations,  or  mission  stations.  Of  this  majority  nearly  the 
whole  body  agree  in  the  position  that  the  most  efficient  way  of 
pushing  pioneer  missions  is  by  a  series  of  informal  services,  in 
making  up  which  the  discretion  of  the  minister  is  to  be  largely 
consulted.  Besides  these,  there  is  a  section  of  the  Church,  neither 
deficient  in  zeal  or  strength,  which  believes  that  the  free  and 
earnest  use  in  social  meetings  of  extemporaneous  prayer — the 
introduction  and  extension  of  such  meetings  whenever  an  open 
ing  is  offered  for  them — the  bold  and  faithful  preaching  of  the 
cross  informally  as  well  as  formally,  wherever  the  preacher  has 
access — are  the  primary  agencies  through  which  alone  the  mission 
aries  of  our  Church  can  solidly  lay  her  foundations. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  we  find  opinions  directly  to  the  contrary 
avowed  among  us,  by  authorities  equally  conscientious,  and  equally 
entitled  to  recognition  as  a  constituent  part  of  our  communion. 

"  Now  here  we  have  a  difference  of  opinion  going  to  the  very  root 
of  the  question  of  missionary  machinery.  Those  conscientiously 
holding  the  first  view  may  be  pardoned  in  preferring  a  missionary 
who  will  press  the  Church  in  that  way  in  which  they  think  it  can 
be  savingly  and  effectively  pressed ;  those  holding  the  second 
view,  equally  conscientiously,  interpose  an  episcopal  prohibition 
upon  the  missionary  who  desires  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages 
thought  so  important  by  the  first.  And  yet,  divergent  as  these 
opinions  are,  I  apprehend  our  Church  legitimately  comprehends 
them  both,  and  secures  to  each  the  right  of  missionary  action  in 
the  way  that  it  thinks  best.  Nor  do  I  see  any  particular  harm  in 
this.  If  it  be  said  that  there  is  to  be  a  coerced  uniformity,  and 
that  the  party  who  happens  to  be  in  the  ascendant  for  the  time 


22  MEMOIR   OF 

being,  is  to  be  empowered  to  make  those  who  differ  from  him  work 
under  him,  or  not  to  work  at  all,  then  I  apprehend  there  will  be 
dissension,  if  not  schism.  Each  party  will  struggle  for  the  ascen 
dency,  and  the  struggle  will  create  party  feeling  where  it  does  not 
produce  an  actual  disruption.  It  was  thus  the  great  Methodist 
schism  was  caused.  John  Wesley  would  never  have  left  the 
Church  of  England  had  the  liberty  allowed  by  our  American  Bishops 
been  allowed  to  him  by  their  English  predecessors.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  understood  that  each  element  is  to  be  allowed  to 
push  the  Church  in  its  own  way,  I  can  see  little  but  good.  Those 
who  prefer  a  strictly  liturgical  system  will  find  not  only  a  channel 
open  to  their  zeal,  but  will  be  able  to  do  what  those  who  differ 
from  them  could  not  do  so  well — minister  to  the  religious  wants  of 
that  class  of  the  community  whose  intellectual  structure  is  such  as 
to  make  them  crave  the  aesthetic  in  public  worship,  as  distinguished 
from  the  more  practical  and  homely.  Those  who  prefer  a  mixed 
system  will  also  not  only  be  able  to  work  efficiently,  and  to  them 
selves  healthfully,  in  the  missionary  field,  but  to  present  the  gospel, 
through  a  combination  of  stated  with  social  worship,  in  the  way  in 
which  it  will  most  effectively  strike  large  and  important  classes. 
'  There  are  many  voices/  says  St.  Paul,  '  and  none  of  them  with 
out  signification/  There  are  many  classes  of  hearers,  and  each 
of  them  open  to  a  call  which  strikes  it  with  a  distinctive  emphasis. 
Is  it  not  wiser,  both  for  the  Church  and  for  the  masses  to  whom 
she  is  sent,  that  to  each  element  she  should  speak  intelligently,  so 
that,  in  the  exercise  of  her  Pentecostal  power,  ( all  men — Parthians, 
Medes,  Elamites? — those  whose  heart  responds  only  to  the  solemn 
sweeps  of  the  chant,  as  well  as  those  in  whom  the  passionate  utter 
ances  of  the  rude  hymn  in  the  field-meeting  awaken  their  first  con 
viction  of  sin — should  hear  her  speak  in  their  '  own  tongues  the 
wonderful  works  of  God  ?' 

"  But  we  may  go  still  further,  and  say  that  if  the  principle  hold 
good,  it  will  exact  a  compulsory  fusion  of  literary  agencies.  If  it  be 
right  that  the  Church  should  interfere  to  consolidate  boards  in  the 
one  department,  it  is  right  that  she  should  in  the  other.  A  literary 
fusion,  a  monopoly  in  the  preparation  and  issue  of  books,  is  at 
least  as  important  as  a  missionary  fusion,  a  monopoly  in  the  sup 
port  and  sending  of  missionaries.  .Let  us  see,  then,  how  the  prin 
ciple  bears  this  new  test. 


DK.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  23 

"And  here  it  may  be  remarked,  that  if  there  is  anything  in  which 
the  comprehensiveness  of  the  Church  of  England  is  exhibited,  it  is 
on  this  very  topic.  It  is  the  very  breadth  and  fulness  of  her  litera 
ture  which  are  its  chief  glory.  To  this  she  owes  the  logical  exact 
ness  of  Chillingworth,  the  majestic  strength  of  Barrow,  the  brilliant 
point  of  South,  the  lustrous  rhetoric  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  the  exposi 
tory  and  doctrinal  closeness  of  Ezekiel  Hopkins,  the  didactic 
simplicity  'and  elegance  of  Tillotson,  and  the  shrewd  sense  and 
perspicuous  reasoning  of  Paley.  So  it  has  been  even  to  our  own 
day.  There  is  room,  and  never  more  so  than  now,  when  the  mul 
tiplying  varieties  of  mind,  which  a  diffused  education  produces, 
require  a  multiplying  variety  of  agencies ;  there  is  room  still  on 
the  book-shelves  and  in  the  libraries  of  our  communion  for  the 
manifestation  of  each  of  the  interests  which  our  communion  unites. 
See,  indeed,  how  important  has  this  freedom  been  to  us,  even  in  our 
own  generation  !  There  stands  Arnold,  marching  in  all  the  vigor 
of  his  manly  but  restive  mind,  from  the  theological  obscurity  and 
doubts  into  which  his  impatience  of  systems  led  him  in  his  earlier 
essays,  to  the,  as  yet,  hardly  perfect,  but  most  beautiful  evangel- 
icism  of  his  closing  works.  There  is  the  pastoral  fidelity  con 
nected  with  the  exegetical  and  doctrinal  eclecticism,  and  the  philo 
sophical  breadth  of  Archer  Butler.  There  is  the  showy  eloquence 
of  Melville,  a  little  too  gaudy  for  the  closet,  and  a  little  too  elab 
orate  for  the  pulpit,  and  yet  like  a  botanical  garden,  if  not  good 
for  scenery,  at  least  admirable  for  horticulture ;  and  there  beyond 
all  others  in  worth,  if  not  in  pretension,  are  the  excellent  exposi 
tory  sermons  of  Blunt  and  Bradley.  Behind  each  utterance  there 
is  a  specific  sense ;  through  them  the  free  voice  of  the  Church 
speaks,  never  so  potent  as  when  free,  calling  through  each  agency 
to  a  particular  class  of  minds  whom  no  other  agency  could  reach, 
and  not  only  raising  the  literary  character  of  the  Church,  but  dif 
fusing  the  truth  with  a  comprehensiveness,  which  it  requires  a  com 
prehensive  policy  to  insure.  And  observe  that  whenever  we  have 
deviated  from  this  policy  our  glory  and  our  power  have  been  pro- 
portionably  diminished.  It  was  by  the  application  of  this  very 
doctrine  of  compulsory  uniformity  that  we  lost  the  passionate  elo 
quence  of  Whitefield,  the  sagacious  sense  of  Wesley,  and  the  apos 
tolic  zeal  and  vigor  which  enabled  the  first  of  these  great  men  to 
arouse  a  nation,  and  the  second  to  found  a  church.  Through  it 


24  MEMOIR   OF 

we  lost  something  more — the  works  and  examples  of  those  great 
confessors,  the  Puritan  divines  of  the  Restoration,  who  in  their 
exodns  spoiled  us  of  the  jewels  and  wealth  of  an  orthodoxy,  which 
we  Avere  too  indifferent  to  appreciate,  and  of  a  literature,  whose 
depth  and  fulness  we  were  too  luxurious  and  inert  to  fathom. 
Look  back  and  see  who  issue  from  the  closed  doors  of  those  cathe 
drals  and  churches,  from  the  metropolis  down  to  the  hamlet — 
those  doors  which  a  compulsory  and  intolerant  moderatism  (of  all 
tyrannies  the  most  arbitrary  and  ungenerous)  is  not  only  shutting, 
but  bolting  on  the  inside  !  There — preceded  by  the  common  hang 
man,  in  whose  hands  are  to  be  seen  the  proscribed  writings  of  men 
of  whom  their  age  was  not  worthy — there  go  John  Bunyan,  and 
Baxter,  and  Owen,  and  Fuller,  and  Philip  and  Matthew  Henry. 
And  there,  mightier  than  all,  goes  a  great  shade,  taking  with  him 
as  he  goes  from  this  his  mother  church,  the  glory  of  the  greatest 
epic  poet  whom  the  world  ever  knew.  What,  indeed,  might  the 
Church  not  have  been  had  her  heart  been  as  comprehensive  as  her 
standards  !  '  I  agree  to  them  all,  every  word/  said  Philip  Henry, 
as  he  was  driven  from  Broad  Oaks,  because  his  love  to  what  really 
was  the  Church,  was  too  real  and  thorough  to  enable  him  to  take 
an  oath  to  support  elements  new  and  intolerant.  '  It  draws  my 
very  heart's  blood/  cries  another,  in  the  bitterness  of  his  spirit  ; 
( but,  while  I  can  make  Bishops  overseers,  I  cannot  make  them 
Apostles,  nor  can  I  abandon  free  prayer.'  '  I  give  up  that  I  love/ 
said  a  third,  i  to  those  that  love  it  not ;  but  it  is  they,  not  I.'  So 
spake  the  expelled  divines  of  the  Restoration ;  and  it  is  well  that 
we  should  sit  and  listen  before  we  proceed  to  apply  the  same 
shackles  Avhich  drove  them  from  us.  Unity  in  essentials  let  us 
have — in  the  great  truths  in  which,  as  John  . Newton  told  us,  all 
religion  centres,  that  '  man  is  a  great  sinner,  arid  Christ  is  a  great 
Saviour ;' — unity  in  government,  recognizing,  as  we  do,  Constitu 
tional  Episcopacy,  as  to  us  the  only  form  to  be  received  ; — unity  in 
solemn  worship,  holding  to  the  great  features  of  the  liturgy  in  our 
public  congregations  ; — but  not  uniformity  in  those  developments  of 
individual  zeal  and  purity,  in  which,  in  order  to  make  substantial 
truth,  there  must  be  circumstantial  variety."^ 

We  have  glanced  thus  at  Dr.  Wharton's  views  both  in  Church 
and  State,  and  shown  him  as  he  supposed  usefully  and   perma- 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  25 

nently  established  in  the  profession  which  had  been  pointed  out  to 
him.  Now,  however,  the  hand  of  God  was  to  overturn  this  fair 
structure,  and  in  one  night  the  gourd  of  earthly  felicity  withered 
away.  The  death  of  his  wife,  which  took  place  in  September,  1854, 
seemed  to  cut  him  loose  from  all  the  ties  by  which  he  had  sur 
rounded  himself.  For  a  long  time,  after  his  bereavement,  he  tried 
to  find  solace  in  the  occupations  and  objects  of  his  former  life.  Too 
truly  a  Christian  not  to  submit  to  God's  will,  he  tried  to  discover 
what  might  be  the  teaching  of  this  great  bereavement.  He  sought 
new  channels  of  usefulness.  He  became  a  sort  of  lay  preacher  in 
the  various  missions  of  the  city.  The  warmth  and  fervor  of  his 
loving  heart  poured  themselves  out  in  many  an  appeal  to  the 
ignorant  and  sorrowful  to  come  and  find,  as  he  had  found  comfort 
and  rest  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross.  After  the  great  loss  he  had  sus 
tained,  he  could  not  longer  live  among  the  memorials  of  his  past 
happiness,  and  moved  to  another  and  more  commodious  house  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  town.  His  principal  motive,  however,  in  so 
doing,  was  that  he  might  surround  himself  with  congenial  com 
panions,  and  endeavor  to  palliate  the  heart-ache  he  could  not 
remove. 

These  companions  were  not,  as  might  be  supposed,  men  of  his 
own  profession,  but  of  the  profession  to  which  in  heart  he  ever 
belonged.  Bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  were  they  alive,  could 
testify  to  the  liberal  hospitality  they  received  at  his  hands,  and 
students  for  the  ministry,  young  men  needing  help,  never  were 
without  his  generous  aid.  His  means  were  at  that  time  quite 
ample,  and  rapidly  increasing.  Not  only  were  his  books  remu 
nerative,  but  his  chamber  practice  brought  him  a  larger  sum  than 
most  young  lawyers  could  expect.  A  less  industrious  man  could 
never  have  found  time  for  all  the  demands  made  upon  him.  He 
was  sought  for  to  assist  in  every  benevolent  society,  and  his  endorse 
ment  was  often  regarded  as  sufficient  to  procure  a  call  of  a  clergy 
man  to  a  parish.  In  fact  he  was  called  at  one  time,  with  more 
truth  than  reverence,  the  lay-Bishop.  He  was  an  earnest  helper 
of  the  Episcopal  Hospital  in  Philadelphia,  and  it  was  his  habit  to 
visit  and  hold  religious  services  in  its  wards.  At  this  time  also  he 
became  editor  of  a  religious  paper,  (the  '  Episcopal  Recorder,')  a 
leading  periodical  of  the  Evangelical  School  in  our  Church,  and 
continued  his  editorial  labors  for  some  time  after  his  removal 


26  MEMOIR   OF 

from  Philadelphia.  But  all  these  varied  occupations  failed  to  give 
him  just  what  he  needed.  The  change  in  his  domestic  life,  the 
desolated  fireside,  and  the  lonely  toil  were  always  pressing  upon 
him,  and  he  sought  relief  in  another  way.  The  growth  of  the 
great  West,  and  the  best  methods  of  reaching  it  with  Christian 
influence  had  occupied  much  of  his  attention.  In  1856  he  made 
a  tour  in  company  with  a  friend,  through  the  upper  Missouri 
Valley,  in  a  light  wagon  distributing  Bibles  and  tracts  as  he  went. 
At  the  same  time  he  wrote  vivid  letters  to  the  '  Recorder/  giving  his 
impressions  of  the  country,  and  its  needs  from  a  religious  point  of 
view.  Afterwards  he  stated  some  of  his  conclusions  in  an  article 
in  the  '  Protestant  Episcopal  Quarterly  Review/  which  was  also  re- 
published  in  pamphlet  form  with  the  title  '  The  Missouri  Valley 
and  Lay-preaching/ 

During  his  travels  in  the  West,  Dr.  Wharton  visited  the  then 
infant  College  and  Seminary  at  Gambier,  Ohio.  Here  he  met 
with  a  warm  welcome,  and  became  really  enamored  of  the  life 
and  surroundings  of  the  place.  He  was  induced  to  accept  an 
election  to  the  Professorship  of  English  History  and  Literature, 
including  Logic  and  Rhetoric,  and  Lectures  on  Constitutional  Law, 
and  threw  himself  zealously  into  the  work. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  27 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LIFE   AT   GAMBIER,    OHIO. 

College,  situated  on  the  Kokosing,  a  beautiful  winding 
stream,  and  surrounded  by  forests  of  cottonwood,  oak,  and  syca 
more,  was  founded  by  the  venerable  Bishop  Chase  in  the  year  1828. 
It  was  at  first  a  missionary  enterprise,  but  through  the  liberality 
of  patrons,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  it  had  become  in  1856  a 
vigorous  and  growing  institution.  It  united  with  the  College  a 
Seminary  for  the  preparation  of  young  men  for  the  Episcopal  Min 
istry,  and  two  large  grammar-schools  fed  and  enlivened  the  older 
classes.  Here  was  a  most  congenial  and  interesting  field  of  labor. 
What  more  hopeful  and  inspiring  project  than  to  arouse  the  atten 
tion  and  awaken  the  ambition  of  young  men  of  such  varied  ages 
and  capabilities  not  only  for  the  distinction  this  world  gives,  but 
for  that  far  greater  compensation  that  comes  to  those  wrho,  to  bene 
fit  their  fellow-creatures,  give  them  the  message  of  God's  good- will 
to  man. 

Here  were  found  also  many  kind  and  kindred  spirits.  The  pro 
fessors  of  Divinity,  the  beloved  and  now  sainted  Bishop  Mcllvaine 
took  the  traveller  by  the  hand,  and  rejoiced  in  securing  such  a  co- 
laborer. 

The  life  at  Gambier  was  one  of  great  activity.  Dr.  Wharton 
took  up  at  once  his  duties  as  professor  in  the  College.  It  was  also 
a  life  of  enjoyment,  as  he  gathered  around  him  young  and  old  in 
the  exercise  of  hospitality,  and  thus  found  the  companionship  he 
craved.  No  one,  who  at  that  time  met  or  dwelt  with  him,  can 
forget  the  fascination  of  his  conversation.  In  the  rebound  from 
the  cloud  of  sorrow  that  had  so  long  hung  over  him,  his  spirits 
became  again  the  charm  of  every  social  circle,  and  his  generous 
nature  poured  itself  out  in  loving  prodigality  on  all  who  came 
near  him.  In  the  Class  room,  however,  was  the  best  development 
of  his  new-born  energy.  Coming  in  contact,  as  he  did,  with  young 
and  bright  minds,  many  of  them  unformed,  some  of  them,  and 


28  MEMOIR   OF 

these  the  best,  with  crude  and  mistaken  notions,  all  of  them  on 
the  threshold  of  a  period  momentous  to  themselves  and  others,  he 
delighted  to  use  the  knowledge  he  had  gained,  and  the  rich  gift  of 
his  influence  to  shape  and  mould  the  material  committed  to  his 
charge.  A  book  published  by  him  at  that  time  with  the  title 
'  Modern  Theism'  will  show  the  kind  of  instruction  he  imparted, 
and  the  kind  of  difficulties  he  came  in  contact  with.  The  book  is 
in  fact  a  copy  of  the  Lectures  he  delivered  at  that  time  on  the 
theories  of  '  Modern  Infidelity.7  The  well-worn,  but  ever-recur 
ring  questions  that  confront  us  all  in  early  life  are  treated  in  a 
manner  that  enchains  the  attention  and  satisfies  the  inquirer,  even 
if  it  does  not  solve  the  mystery.  In  the  chapters  on  Sin  and  Death 
in  the  beginning  of  the  book,  clearly  and  strongly  it  is  shown  that 
the  existence  of  one  necessitates  the  other ;  gently,  and  yet  grandly, 
does  the  truth  stand  out  that  suffering  and  death  are  God's  reme 
dial  agents,  and  that  ills,  otherwise  unbearable,  are  parts  of  a 
scheme  of  mercy  whose. completeness  of  fulfilment  eternity  alone 
will  reveal. 

WHARTON  ON  THEISM. 

We  take  the  following  from  the  London  '  Christian  Observer' : — 

The  design  of  this  work  is  to  present  the  Theistic  arguments  (or, 
in  other  words,  to  prove  the  existence  of  a  God)  "  in  such  a  shape," 
to  use  the  author's  words,  "  as  the  best  to  impress  the  American 
mind  of  the  present  day."  It  is  a  very  interesting  volume,  even  to 
us  upon  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  It  may  be  placed  with  great 
advantage  in  the  hands  of  thoughtful  and  inquiring  young  persons; 
for  it  conducts  the  several  lines  of  argument  it  takes  up  to  sound 
conclusions,  while  the  path  is  made  pleasant  by  anecdote  and  illus 
tration.  For  instance,  the  evidence  of  the  existence  and  character 
of  God  is  argued  first  of  all  from  conscience,  God's  representative 
within  us.  We  give  an  illustration  : — 

"  I  may  be  permitted  to  close  the  topic  with  the  following  passage 
from  a  sketch  given  by  the  late  Dr.  Parrish,  of  Philadelphia,  a 
very  reliable  witness,  of  the  last  hours  of  John  Randolph  : — 

"  '  A  napkin  was  called  for  and  placed  by  John  over  his  breast. 
For  a  short  time  he  lay  perfectly  quiet,  with  his  eyes  closed.  He 
suddenly  roused  up  and  exclaimed,  <  Remorse  !  Remorse  !'  It  was 
thrice  repeated,  the  last  time  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  with  great 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  29 

agitation.  He  cried  out,  'Let  me  see  the  word.  Get  a  dictionary; 
let  me  see  the  word  !'  '  There  is  none  in  the  room,  sir.7  '  Write 
it  down,  then — let  me  see  the  word.'  The  doctor  picked  up  one 
of  his  cards.  '  Randolph  of  Roanoke.'  '  Shall  I  write  it  on  this 
card  ?'  *  Yes,  nothing  more  proper/  The  word  Remorse  was  then 
written  in  pencil.  He  took  the  card  in  a  hurried  manner,  and 
fastened  his  eyes  on  it  with  intensity.  '  Write  it  on  the  back/  he 
exclaimed.  •  It  was  so  done,  and  handed  him  again.  He  was 
extremely  agitated.  i  Remorse  !  you  have  no  idea  what  it  is  ;  you 
can  form  no  idea  of  it  whatever ;  it  has  contributed  to  briug  me  to 
my  present  situation.  But  I  have  looked  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  I  hope  I  have  obtained  pardon.  Now,  let  John  take  your 
pencil  and  draw  a  line  under  the  word ;'  which  was  accordingly 
done.  'What  am  I  to  do  with  the  card?'  inquired  the  doctor. 
Put  it  in  your  pocket — take  care  of  it — when  I  am  dead  look 
at  it.'  "  (p.  62.) 

The  existence  of  God,  as  "an  eternal  executive  punishing  the 
violators  of  his  law,  may  be  inferred  from  the  physical  conse 
quences  of  a  violation  of  conscience."  This  position  is  illustrated 
thus  : — 

"  Let  us  go,  for  instance,  to  Augustus  the  Strong,  of  Saxony,  and 
observe  in  him  in  early  life  '  the  maximum  of  physical  strength  : 
can  break  horse-shoes — nay,  half-crowns — with  finger  and  thumb;7 
of  superb  beauty,  and  possessor  of  two  crowns.  Meet  him  again 
when  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  and  you  see  him  bloated  and 
putrid.  A  life  of  eminent  dissipation  has  broken  a  constitution  of 
eminent  strength.  So  it  is  everywhere.  We  are  placed,  in  fact, 
under  recognizances  to  obey  the  decrees  of  conscience,  and  our 
bodies  become  our  bail.  If  the  bond  is  broken,  the  bail  is  seized 
upon  and  made  to  pay  the  forfeit.  Nor  is  it  bodily  strength  alone 
that  is  thus  taken  in  execution.  Nervous  power,  intellectual  integ 
rity,  simplicity  of  heart,  even  lustre  of  genius — all  these  are  in 
like  manner  sacrificed  as  penalties.  Byron,  Burns,  Mirabeau— 
themselves  desolating  and  desolate — lead  us,  in  the  agonized  con 
fession  of  their  early  though  self-destroyed  manhood,  to  the  same 
truth  of  the  organic  connection  between  physical  and  intellectual 
demoralization. 

"  Nor  does  the  penalty  stop  here.  The  finer  and  more  generous 
capacities  of  the  heart  become  in  like  manner  involved.  The  sus- 


30  MEMOIR   OF 

ceptibility  for  innocent  joys — of  all  susceptibilities  the  finest — is 
lost.     Burns  speaks  with  a  sad  truth  on  this  point — 

I  wave  the  quantum  of  the  sin, 

The  hazard  of  concealing  ; 
But  0  I   it  hardens  all  within, 

And  petrifies  the  feeling." 

Another  chapter,  more  in  the  style  of  Paley,  treats  of  design  from 
Nature.  The  OCEAN  supplies  some  beautiful  proofs  of  contrivance, 
which  are  ranged  under  three  heads  :  the  Sea-breeze,  the  Ocean 
Salts,  and  the  Gulf  Stream.  Under  the  last  head  we  have  the  fol 
lowing  illustration  : — 

"  Let  us  first  view  its  effect  on  England.  The  port  of  Liverpool 
is  never  closed  with  ice ;  it  is  two  degrees  farther  north  than  that 
of  St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  which,  being  frozen  half  the  year,  is 
of  course  incapable  of  sustaining  commerce.  Let  us  look  for  a 
moment  at  the  consequences,  had  the  same  bands  existed  round  the 
English  coast.  Cowper  has  well  described  the  spectacle  that  now 
awaits  the  visitor  to  these  shores  : — 

From  side  to  side  of  her  delightful  isle, 
Is  she  not  clothed  with  a  perpetual  smile, 
Her  fields  a  rich  expanse  of  wavy  corn, 
Poured  out  from  Plenty's  overflowing  horn, 
Her  peaceful  shores,  where  busy  commerce  waits 
To  pour  his  golden  tide  through  all  her  gates  ? 

"  This  scene  would  be  changed  to  one  whose  ice-choked  ports 
would  be  fed  only  by  rivers,  themselves  frozen  half  the  year,  and 
where  a  mist,  as  constant  as  that  of  Labrador,  would  give  through 
its  fissures  and  breaks  only  sunlight  enough  to  mature  the  coarsest 
grain.  From  such  a  climate  commerce  would  be  excluded,  and 
agriculture  would  obtain  but  a  scanty  subsistence.  The  England 
of  our  fathers,  and  the  England  of  our  own  days,  would  never 
have  existed." 

Other  chapters  show  the  existence  of  a  Deity  from  the  progress 
of  Society,  from  Geology,  and  from  Natural  Theology.  And  the 
second  book,  treating  of  skeptical  theories,  answers  the  objections 
drawn  from  the  impression  of  the  present  state  of  things,  from 
"positivism,"  from  fatalism,  and  from  pantheism;  and  lastly, 
from  the  recent — or,  rather,  extremely  ancient  but  recently  re- 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  31 

vived — theory  of  "  development/'  which  makes  matter  the  creator 
of  mind.  A  more  interesting  book,  or  one  likely  to  be  more  useful 
to  young  and  ardent  minds  passing  through  that  anxious  state 
which  often  intervenes  to  such  between  the  simple,  happy  acqui 
escence  of  childhood,  and  that  firm  faith  and  undisturbed  repose 
which  is  the  fruit  of  many  a  bitter  conflict,  we  have  not  lately  met 
with,  and  we  shall  be  happy  to  contribute  anything  to  its  success 
and  wider  circulation. 

Some  letters  written  of  him  at  that  time  will  show  how  the 
culture  and  brilliancy  of  their  teacher  impressed  the  young  men 
committed  to  his  charge,  and  how  the  giving  up  of  his  Eastern 
home  with  its  many  attractions  for  a  comparatively  secluded  life 
at  Gambier,  was  regarded  : — 

(1)  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

"  Your  description  of  Dr.  Wharton  at  Gambier,  when  we  were 
all  boys  in  his  own  house,  and  surrounded  by  his  kindness,  brings 
back  very  vividly  the  old  times.  I  am  sure  that  every  one  of  us, 
and  all  young  men  who  came  in  contact  with  him,  were  made  better 
by  his  influence  and  example.  I  know  very  well  he  had  a  pro 
found  influence  over  me,  and  he  has  always  been  (after  my  own 
father  and  mother)  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the  background 
of  my  youth.  He  was  a  generous,  affectionate,  noble  Christian 
gentleman.  His  intellectual  qualities  of  course  were  pre-eminent. 
I  have  never  known  a  more  comprehensive  and  brighter  intellect, 
and  his  memory,  as  you  say,  was  marvellous.  What  a  wonderful 
scholar  he  was,  and  how  industrious  at  his  self-imposed  tasks." 

....  "I  shall  never  cease  to  revere  his  memory  as  one  of 
America's  best  and  greatest  men. 

"I.  K.  HAMILTON." 

(2)  "  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  have  been  associated  with  him 
in  early  years.  I  knew  something  of  his  personal  qualities  and  of 
the  beauty  of  his  daily  life.  I  shall  never  forget  what  I  owe  to 
his  kindness,  his  counsel,  his  wisdom.  He  wras,  within  the  range 
of  his  friendships,  one  of  the  most  gentle  and  brotherly  of  men. 
Exceedingly  kind  to  the  younger  members  of  his  profession,  cour 
teous  and  dignified  to  all.  His  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 


32  MEMOIR   OF 

great  lawyers  of  the  day,  taken  in  connection  with  his  urbanity 
and  his  fund  of  legal  anecdote,  made  his  conversation  always 
interesting,  and  his  society  always  agreeable.  His  life  was  clear 
and  clean  in  its  aims,  full  of  busy  and  useful  labor. 

"T.  C.  C." 

(3)  "  But  any  sketch  of  him  would  be  incomplete  which  failed  to 
refer  to  his  attractive  and  lovable  character.     Benevolence  was  a 
striking  feature  in  it,  and  that  not  only  in  the  sense  of  a  hearty 
good-will  towards  all  men,  but  in  the  sense  of  active  beneficence 
toward  those  with  whom  he  was  brought  into  relations.     To  say 
nothing  of  other  acts  of  charity,  there  is  many  a  man  alive  to-day 
who  in  the  days  of  his  student  life,  hard  and  cramped,  perhaps, 
received  sympathy  and  encouragement  and  substantial  help  from 
Dr.  Wharton.     His  learning,  his  wit,  his  genial  presence,  made 
him  charming  in  social  life.     His  conversation  was  something  to 
be  remembered — not  merely  for  the  instruction  with  which  it  was 
freighted,  but  for  its  gentle  humor  and  its  exuberance  of  illustra 
tion  by  anecdote,  by  metaphor,  by  picturesque  turns  of  phrase.     It 
was  these  graces  of  style  which  made  his  writing,  even  on  technical 
subjects,  so  interesting.     His  hospitality  was  abounding.     To  all 
who  knew  him  the  world  will  seem  poorer  now  that  he  is  gone. 

"J.  P.,  JR." 

(4)  "  The  present  writer,  then  a  raw  lad,  remembers  sitting  at  the 
table  of  a  professor,  a  classmate  of  the  deceased  jurist,  where  Dr. 
"Wharton  was  visiting.     After  retiring,  he  took  occasion  to  ask  the 
host  what  the  very  interesting  gentleman  was  by  profession.     '  A 
lawyer/  said  the  professor.     '  But,  professor,  he  talked  of  having 
prescribed    for  a  lady  suffering    from  nervous   prostration   some 
medicine,  and  Jane  Austen's  novels.7     l  Oh,  yes,'  said   the  pro 
fessor,  '  Mr.  Wharton  has  given  much  attention  to  brain  and  nerve 
troubles.     He  has  been  himself  a  sufferer,  and  that  accounts  for 
it.'     '  But,  professor,  he  talked  about  items  clipped  from  the  news 
papers,  and  I  fancied  that  he  might  be  an  editor.'     'So  he  is,' 
replied  the  professor,  '  of  the  Episcopal  Recorder.'     '  He  seems  too 
religious   for   an  every-day  lawyer,  professor.'      'That   may  be,' 
replied  the  professor,  '  but  he  is  one  of  the  most  energetic  laymen 
in  the  Church.' 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  33 

"  As  suggested  above,  Professor  "Wharton  was  possibly  too  re 
ligiously  recondite  for  the  callow  disciples  under  him  from  1856  to 
1860 ;  and  it  is  out  of  a  feeling  of  regretful  remorse  that  one  of 
the  black  sheep  among  them  now  humbly  seeks  to  show  an  appre 
ciation  of  his  genius  and  labors. 

"T.  H.  R." 

That  he  did  not  regard  his  light  as  in  any  way  'hidden'  or  ob 
scured  by  his  Western  life  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
it  was  very  difficult  to  make  him  think  highly  of  himself.  His  life- 
work  was  to  fill  the  place  where  he  seemed  most  needed.  Others 
coul.d  and  did  take  up  the  work  he  left  behind  him.  Several 
churches  in  Philadelphia  now  owe  their  existence  to  missions  started 
by  him,  and  the  Episcopal  Hospital,  under  wide  and  generous 
patronage,  no  longer  required  his  aid.  At  the  same  time,  that  he 
was  greatly  missed  among  a  circle  of  dear  friends,  is  undoubtedly 
true,  and  they  could  bear  testimony  with  his  Gambier  classes  that 
a  Son  of  Consolation  had  gone  from  them,  and  had  been  gained  by 
the  more  distant  and  pressing  need.  His  favorite  motto  at  that 
time,  taken  from  u  well-known  hymn,  was — 

"  A  soul  at  leisure  from  itself, 
To  soothe  and  sympathize." 

The  wants  of  others  were  his  only  thought.  The  lonely,  the  sad, 
the  destitute,  ever  found  him  ready  to  help.  Sick  students  were 
brought  to  his  house,  and  carefully  and  tenderly  nursed — the  well 
ones  were  entertained  and  encouraged.  They  felt  that  his  house 
was  a  home  for  them  if  they  required  it,  and  this  from  a  man 
whose  wit  and  learning  commanded  their  admiration  and  respect. 
The  future  will  show  many  cases  where  not  only  gratitude,  but 
lasting  and  blessed  effects,  followed  from  the  ties  and  associations 
thus  formed. 

But  it  is  time  to  notice  more  in  detail  some  of  the  results  of 
the  work  at  Gambier. 

Mr.  Joseph  Packard,  Jr.,  a  son  of  the  esteemed  Professor 
Packard  of  Alexandria,  Virginia,  writes:  "There  were  a  dozen 
or  more  lectures  to  his  classes  each  week ;  there  was  editorship  of 
periodicals,  there  was  constantly  work  to  be  done  in  meeting  the 
demand  for  new  editions  of  his  law  books,  each  new  edition  requiring 
careful  examination  of  late  cases,  and  of  English  and  Continental 


34  MEMOIR   OF 

text- writers.  To  all  this  was  added  an  extensive  correspondence. 
Distinctive  Christian  work,  however,  still  kept  its  prominent  place 
with  him.  In  addition  to  regular  attendance  and  help  in  prayer- 
meetings  among  the  college  students,  it  was  his  custom,  from  the 
time  of  his  first  residence  in  Gambler,  to  ride  a  couple  of  miles  on 
Sunday  afternoons  to  hold  mission  services  in  some  distant  hamlet. 
During  a  part  of  his  career  as  Professor  he  conducted  what  was 
called  his  Bible  Class — more  properly  Bible  lectures — on  Sunday 
evenings.  Attendance  on  those  lectures  was  entirely  voluntary ; 
but  although  the  college  student  had  already  been,  under  stress  of 
law,  to  the  morning  and  afternoon  service  in  the  chapel,  there  were 
few  that  failed  to  attend.  So,  also,  came  the  theological  students, 
the  villagers,  and  even  many  of  the  grammar-school  boys.  It  was 
no  wonder,  for  the  subject  was  illustrated  in  the  most  attractive 
way  from  the  stores  of  his  varied  knowledge." 

In  the  year  1857  occurred  a  decided  religious  Revival,  of  which 
no  better  account  could  be  given  than  is  to  be  found  in  a  small 
pamphlet  printed  for  private  circulation,  and  in  Dr.  Wharton's 
own  words,  called  a  '  Reminiscence  of  Gambier.' 

"ABIDE  WITH  ME." 

Several  of  my  former  Gam  bier  pupils,  on  visiting  Brookline,  and 
on  hearing  the  hymn  ( Abide  with  Me,'  sung  at  St.  Paul's  to  the 
tune  with  which  we  were  so  familiar  when  together  on  the  Hill, 
have  asked  me  for  the  notes.  In  answering  this  request,  my  mind 
involuntarily  turns  back  to  an  event  with  which  the  hymn  and 
music  are  both,  in  my  memory  and  affections,  indissolubly  con 
nected — the  Revival  at  Gam  bier,  in  1857-58.  And  I  have  felt,  in 
sending  the  notes  to  the  printer,  that  it  might  not  be  amiss  for  me 
to  join  with  them  a  few  recollections  of  that  most  eventful  period  ; 
recollections  which  I  now  print,  not  for  publication,  but  for  private 
use,  in  memory  of  those  of  our  brethren,  then  with  us,  who  are 
now  in  heaven,  and  in  affectionate  tribute  to  those  who  still  survive. 

I  was  in  Philadelphia  at  the  time  when  the  religious  interest, 
which  was  then  so  general  through  the  whole  country,  began  to 
manifest  itself  at  Gambier ;  and  I  well  recollect  the  deep  impres 
sion  made  on  me,  on  my  return,  after  the  usual  winter  vacation,  in 
finding  a  daily  prayer-meeting  instituted  in  that  basement-room  of 
Rosse  Chapel,  with  which,  ungainly  and  dark  as  it  may  be,  I  have 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  35 

so  many  dear  associations.  It  was  Mr.  William  Bower,  then  in 
the  sophomore  class,  now  an  honored  minister  in  Newark,  Ohio, 
who  first,  if  I  understood  rightly,  urged  the  importance  of  these 
meetings ;  and  soon,  to  the  few  who  at  first  attended,  was  added  the 
great  body  of  the  students,  as  well  as  of  the  other  residents  of  the 
Hill.  The  collection  of  hymns,  called  '  Hymns  for  Church  and 
Home/  had  a  short  time  before  been  published ;  and  I  well  recol 
lect  calling  the  attention  of  Mr.  Bower,  Mr.  Holden,  and  the  late 
Mr.  J.  W.  McCarty,  to  the  hymn  which  I  now  republish,  and 
asking  them  if  they  could  not  find  suitable  music  to  words  so. 
beautiful,  and  so  appropriate  to  the  solemn  state  of  religious  -feel 
ing.  It  was  Mr.  Bower  who  brought  us  the  tune  which  is  now 
printed,  and  which  by  memory  was  for  so  long  sung  at  Gambier. 
Desiring  to  reproduce  it  at  my  own  parish,  I  wrote  to  Mr.  J.  W. 
McCarty,  only  a  few  months  before  his  death,  and  received  from 
him,  pencilled  down  by  himself,  the  notes  of  the  melody.  These, 
as  adapted  by  Mr.  C.  B.  Fay,  the  organist  of  St.  PauFs,  I  now  give. 

To  the  Revival  with  which  this  hymn  is  so  closely  associated,  I 
can  never  revert  without  recollections  the  tenderest  and  the  most 
strengthening.  It  showed  two  very  remarkable  facts.  The  first  is, 
that  God,  even  when  we  least  expect  it,  will  make  bare  His  arm,  and, 
in  answer  to  the  importunate  supplications  of  His  people,  descend 
with  mighty  power,  awakening  and  converting  sinners,  and  recalling 
to  a  higher  and  holier  profession  those  among  His  children  who  have 
become  faint  and  cold.  The  second  is,  that  those  whom  He  thus 
pleases  to  revive,  and  use  as  instruments  in  such  revival,  are  not, 
as  it  has  been  sometimes  said,  the  creatures  of  mere  excitement, 
whose  fervor  passes  away  with  the  occasion  which  humanly  caused 
it.  As  illustrations  of  these  truths  I  do  not  merely  particularize 
the  living,  so  many  of  them  ministers  of  God's  Word.  I  turn, 
first,  to  those  whom  God  has  taken  to  Himself. 

Mr.  John  W.  Griffin  is  the  first  of  our  now  glorified  brethren 
whose  name  meets  my  eye  on  the  catalogue.  He  was  then  a  stu 
dent  in  the  seminary,  and  was  at  the  same  time  assisting  me  in  the 
chair  of  English  Literature  in  the  college.  Of  all  men  whom  I 
have  ever  met,  he  was  most  on  his  knees ;  and  in  no  one  did  I 
ever  witness  more  sterling  integrity,  more  sanctified  holiness,  and 
more  devoted  zeal.  He  was  ordained  at  Gambier,  shortly  before 
the  late  war,  by  Bishop  Bedell ;  and  though  called  to  be  minister 


36  MEMOIE   OF 

of  Rosse  Chapel,  where  he  would  gladly  have  remained,  he  was 
ordered  by  Bishop  Meade,  in  whose  diocese  he  was  a  deacon,  to 
the  parish  at  Amherst,  Virginia.  A  few  months  after  his  settle 
ment  the  war  broke  out,  and  he  took  the  post  of  chaplain  to  a 
regiment  in  the  Confederate  army.  Here  he  wore  himself  out  by 
his  devotion  to  the  sick  and  dying,  and  by  his  most  powerful 
ministry  of  the  Word.  Those  who  saw  him  in  the  last  few  months 
of  his  life  say,  that  while  his  body  was  emacfoted  and  his  strength 
nearly  gone,  his  face  shone  almost  as  an  angel's,  and  his  preaching 
and  conversation  were  marked  almost  by  an  angel's  power.  One 
of  his  last  acts  was  to  write  a  letter  to  me,  dwelling  on  what  he  used 
to  speak  of  as  the  blessed  memories  of  Gambier,  and  of  that  Revival 
which  I  now  seek  to  recall ;  and  asking  to  have  his  dying  love 
given  to  the  Bishops  of  Ohio,  and  to  those  with  whom,  when  at 
Gambier,  he  had  lived. 

Mr.  John  W.  McCarty  is  the  next  name  in  the  list  of  the  then 
theological  students,  and  to  Mr.  McCarty's  agency  in  the  Revival 
I  have  already  incidentally  referred.  I  cannot  look  back  on  Mr. 
McCarty  without  some  degree  of  self-reproach.  He  was  by  nature 
marked  by  much  waywardness,  irritability,  and  impetuosity ;  and 
I  was  one  of  those  who  scarcely  did  him  justice,  and  who  only  par 
tially  saw,  through  the  conflict  that  thus  arose,  the  deep  fervor  of 
his  devotion,  and  the  passionate  conviction  of  sin  which  perhaps 
these  very  peculiarities  of  his  temperament  tended  to  enhance.  I 
now  have  to  say,  that  I  believe  that  few  men  have  ever  adorned 
our  ministry  either  with  greater  genius  or  more  thorough  piety. 
He,  too,  was  summoned  to  an  early  grave,  passing  thither  from  a 
pulpit — that  of  Christ  Church,  Cincinnati — than  which  we  have 
few  more  important,  and  in  which  his  remarkable  gifts,  ripening  as 
they  were  day  after  day,  were  beginning  to  exercise  immense  power. 

Mr.  John  Leithead  is  the  next  on  the  list  of  those  who,  in 
the  then  Seminary  classes,  have  passed  from  the  ministry  of  earth 
to  that  of  heaven.  When  I  first  went  to  Gambier  he  was  in  tem 
per  and  character  a  mere  boy;  often  vacillating  and  inconstant. 
He  became  afterwards  a  minister  of  extraordinary  holiness  and 
zeal,  and  lustrous  with  grace ;  and  his  death-bed,  at  Piqua,  Ohio, 
where  he  was  Rector,  was  marked  by  seraphic  loveliness  and 
triumph. 

Mr.  H.  A.  Lewis,  who  was  then  in  the  Sophomore  Class  in  the 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  37 

College,  and  Mr.  M.  M.  Gilbert,  who  was  then  in  the  Freshmen 
Class,  subsequently  entered  the  Seminary  as  theological  students, 
were  ordained,  and  crowned  brief  and  faithful  ministries  by  deaths 
of  peace  and  glorious  trust. 

Mr.  John  M.  Burke,  then  in  the  Senior  Class  of  the  College, 
went  to  Virginia  before  the  war  and  was  there  ordained.  His 
ministerial  life,  as  I  have  learned  from  those  who  knew  him  at  the 
time,  Was  one  of  simple  faith  and  earnest  labor ;  and  his  death, 
which  was  immediate,  occurred  during  an  attack  on  the  town  in 
which  he  was  ministering. 

Among  those  who  were  present  at  Gambier,  during  the  Revival, 
being  at  the  time  laymen,  the  following,  besides  myself,  are  now 
ministers  of  the  Gospel : — 

Rev.  Henry  D.  Lathrop,  then  Principal  of  the  Hall,  and  pursu 
ing  a  partial  course  in  the  Seminary,  now  Rector  of  the  Church  of 
the  Advent,  San  Francisco,  California. 

Rev.  Cornelius  S.  Abbott,  then  in  the  Seminary,  and  now  Rector 
of  St.  Paul's,  Alton,  Illinois. 

Rev.  Henry  H.  Messinger,  then  in  the  Seminary,  and  now  mis 
sionary  at  Los  Angelos,  California. 

Rev.  William  J.  Alston,  then  in  the  Seminary,  and  now  Rector 
of  St.  Thomas'  Church,  Philadelphia. 

Rev.  Richard  L.  Ganter,  then  in  the  Seminary,  and  now  Rector 
of  Trinity  Church,  Iowa  City,  Iowa. 

Rev.  William  C.  Gray,  then  in  the  Seminary,  and  now  Rector  of 
St.  James'  Church,  Bolivar,  Tennessee. 

Rev.  Richard  Holden,  then  in  the  Seminary — I  cannot  but 
pause  with  emotion  as  I  write  Mr.  Holden's  name.  There  is  no 
man  from  whom  I  learned  more,  through  example,  of  true  Chris 
tian  life ;  none  among  all  whom  I  have  ever  met,  who  united  more 
inflexible  Christian  courage,  with  purer  doctrine,  and  with  a  more 
wonderful  influence  over  the  wild  and  irreligious.  Of  all  persons, 
irreligious  college  students  are  the  most  restive  at  any  attempts  at 
personal  religious  influence,  particularly  where  the  effort  comes  from 
a  fellow-student ;  and  yet  among  the  most  reckless  of  this  class, 
Mr.  Holden,  then  a  student  himself,  labored  freely,  faithfully,  and 
earnestly,  and  was  listened  to  always  with  respect,  and  sometimes 
with  love.  I  have  never  seen  a  similar  case ;  and  yet,  let  it  be  re 
membered,  that  his  personal  life  was  one  of  severe  holiness ;  that 


38  MEMOIR   OF 

he  never  hesitated  to  rebuke  sin  ;  that  he  never  shrank  from  pro 
claiming  the  doctrines  of  grace — the  doctrines  of  man's  extreme 
depravity,  and  of  salvation  only  through  the  merits  of  Christ, — in 
their  most  direct  and  positive  form.  It  was  because  he  lived  these  doc 
trines  so  fully,  so  firmly,  and  so  meekly,  that  he  made  them  so  lovely, 
and  that  he  proclaimed  them,  both  at  the  time  of  which  I  speak 
and  subsequently,  with  such  extraordinary  effect.  Mr.  Holden, 
subsequently  to  his  ordination,  declined  prominent  ministerial  posts, 
and  went  as  a  missionary  to  Brazil,  where,  before  his  conversion,  he 
had  become  acquainted  with  the  language,  and  where  he  felt  he  owed 
a  peculiar  debt.  To  my  own  great  grief,  and  to  the  great  grief  of 
others,  he  subsequently  left  our  communion,  finding  a  difficulty  in 
the  disputed  phrases  in  the  Baptismal  Service ;  phrases,  I  cannot 
but  think,  which  would  have  appeared  to  him,  had  he  considered 
them  more  fully,  as  representing  most  important  features  in  that 
very  covenant  of  grace  on  which,  in  its  general  aspects,  he  dwelt 
with  so  much  comfort  and  power.  If  this  should  meet  Mr.  Hoi- 
den's  eye,  in  the  field  where  I  believe  he  still  works  with  the  same 
devotion,  though  in  connection  with  another  communion,  I  ask  him 
to  receive  it  as  a  testimony  of  the  unchanged  love  and  reverence  of 
those  who  labored  with  him  in  1857-58,  and  who,  though  they  will 
never  meet  him  again  in  the  forms  of  the  visible  Church  on  earth, 
look  forward  to  joining  him  in  the  glorified  Church  in  Heaven. 

Rev.  William  O.  Feltwell,  then  in  a  partial  course  in  the  Semi 
nary,  and  now  officiating  at  City  Island,  New  York. 

Rev.  Frederic  M.  Gray,  then  in  the  Senior  Class  of  the  College, 
now  Rector  of  Calvary  Church,  Bayonne,  New  Jersey. 

Rev.  Wyllys  Hall,  then  in  the  Senior  Class,  now  Rector  of  St. 
James'  Church,  Piqua,  Ohio. 

Rev.  John  Newton  Lee,  then  in  the  Senior  Class,  now  Rector  of 
Grace  Church,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

Rev.  John  Franklin  Ohl,  then  in  the  Senior  Class,  now  Rector 
of  St.  James'  Church,  Zanesville,  Ohio. 

Rev.  William  Thompson,  then  in  the  Senior  Class,  now  Rector 
of  St.  John's  Church,  Kewanee,  Illinois. 

Rev.  William  Bower,  then  in  the  Junior  Class,  now  Rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  Newark,  Ohio. 

Rev.  William  Henry  Dyer,  then  in  the  Junior  Class,  now  mis 
sionary  at  Washoe  City,  Nevada. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  39 

Rev.  James  Hervey  Lee,  then  in  the  Junior  Class,  now  Rector 
of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Manhattan,  Kansas. 

Rev.  Charles  E.  Mcllvaine,  then  in  the  Junior  Class,  now  assist 
ant  minister  of  Trinity  Church,  Newark,  Ohio. 

Rev.  Calvin  Clarke  Parker,  then  in  the  Junior  Class,  now  Rector 
of  Trinity  Church,  Warren,  Pennsylvania. 

Rev.  Charles  H.  Young,  then  in  the  Junior  Class,  now  Rector 
of  St.  PauKs  Church,  Fremont,  Ohio. 

Rev.  Carlos  Enrique  Butler,  then  in  the  Sophomore  Class,  now 
a  minister  in  Western  Pennsylvania. 

Rev.  Joseph  Witherspoon  Cook,  then  in  the  Sophomore  Class, 
now  a  missionary  at  Cheyenne,  Dacotah. 

Rev.  John  William  Trimble,  then  in  the  Sophomore  Class,  now 
assisting  in  the  Church  of  the  Ascension,  New  York. 

Mr.  Royal  Blake  Balcom,  then  in  the  Freshman  Class,  now  in 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Gambier. 

Rev.  Otho  H.  Fryer,  then  in  the  Freshman  Class,  now  minister 
at  Cornwall,  Pennsylvania. 

Rev.  E.  O.  Simpson,  then  in  the  Freshman  Class,  now  Rector  of 
St.  Philip's  Church,  Circleville,  Ohio. 

Rev.  Daniel  C.  Roberts,  then  in  the  Freshman  Class,  now  Rector 
of  Christ  Church,  Montpelier,  Vermont. 

Rev.  Henry  L.  Badger,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  Rector  of  Zion 
Church,  Monroeville,  Ohio. 

Rev.  A.  F.  Blake,  then  with  his  father — my  much  honored  and 
loved  friend,  the  Rev.  A.  Blake — now  Rector  of  Grace  Church, 
Avonville,  Ohio. 

Rev.  Samuel  H.  Boyer,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  Rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Glendale,  Ohio. 

Rev.  Edward  Dolloway,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church,  Gouverneur,  New  York. 

Rev.  John  Andrew  Dooris,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  Rector  of  the 
Church  of  the  Epiphany,  Urbana,  Ohio. 

Rev.  Wm.  Dorville  Doty,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  Rector  of  All 
Saints7  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  W.  H.  D.  Grannis,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  Rector  of  St. 
John's  Church,  Fort  Hamilton,  New  York. 

Rev.  Horace  E.  Hayden,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  minister  at  Point 
Pleasant,  Ohio. 


40  MEMOIR   OF 

Rev.  Wm.  M.  Postlethwaite,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  Rector  of  the 
Church  of  our  Saviour,  Brooklyn,  New  York. 

Mr.  George  B.  Pratt,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  about  to  be  ordained 
at  Davenport,  Iowa. 

Rev.  Wm.  W.  Rafter,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  Rector  of  Christ 
Church,  La  Crosse,  Wisconsin. 

Rev.  Wm.  E.  Wright,  then  in  the  Hall,  now  officiating  at  Janes- 
ville,  Wisconsin. 

As  I  write  these,  the  names  of  those  now  in  the  living  ministry, 
whose  faces  I  so  vividly  recall  in  connection  with  the  Revival  of 
1867—8,  I  cannot  but  feel  once  more  the  old  affection  then  borne 
to  them  by  one  who  was  with  them  as  a  lay  College  Professor — 
who  is  now  with  them  in  the  Common  Ministry  of  the  Word — 
and  who  would  desire  to  unite  them  in  the  prayer  that  each  of  us 
may  be  blessed,  unworthy  as  we  are  and  have  been,  with  many 
souls,  to  be  laid  at  our  Blessed  Lord's  feet,  as  the  trophies  of  His 
redeeming  grace. 

With  two  additional  reflections  I  now  close.  The  first  is,  that 
what  seemed  sometimes,  when  we  viewed  them  closely  at  Gambler, 
weaknesses  and  imperfections  and  jarrings,  now,  at  this  distance, 
are  lost  in  the  true  greatness  of  the  general  work,  even  if  we  should 
take  this  single  small  section  of  time  as  the  sole  test.  And  I  can 
not  but  think  that  such  a  retrospect  should  be  a  source  of  the  truest 
comfort  and  encouragement  to  the  Bishops  of  Ohio,  and  to  the 
Professors  at  Gambier,  amid  the  numberless  trials  and  anxieties  to 
which  they  are  exposed.  Greater  uniformity  and  less  individuality 
might  probably  be  produced  under  a  more  rigorous  and  more  highly 
keyed  Church  system ;  I  question  whether  any  other  system  could 
have  produced  truer  and  more  efficient,  and  at  the  same  time  more 
varied,  forms  of  ministerial  life. 

The  other  remark  is,  that  it  is  possible  for  a  Revival  to  be  con 
ducted  in  perfect  harmony  with,  and  strict  obedience  to,  the  rubrics 
and  laws  of  our  Church.  During  the  time  of  the  deepest  religious 
interest  at  Gambier,  the  regular  services  of  the  Church  were  per 
formed  with  the  utmost  exactness,  though  with  a  largely  increased 
attendance.  There  was  no  interchange  with  other  ministries;  there 
has  been,  however,  a  large  and  most  effective  increase  of  our  own, 
as  well  as  an  addition  to  our  own  communion  of  a  body  of  faithful 
laymen,  several  of  whom  I  have  lately  heard  of  as  organizing' 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  41 

parishes,  and  conducting,  with  great  activity,  lay  missions.  Few 
among  those  who  stood  together  in  the  meetings  I  thus  recall, 
came  forth  other  than  earnest,  devoted  men — weak  indeed,  and 
feeling  their  weakness — but  impressed  above  all  things  with  a  love 
to  souls,  and  a  determination  to  preach  and  to  live,  to  perishing 
sinners,  the  fullness  of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

F.  W. 

BROOKLINE,  March  7,  1868. 


42 


MEMOIE   OF 


Abide  with  Me, 


A   -    bide  with     me;    fast      falls    the       e    -    ven  -  tide;        The 


f=t=f=e=ft=E=£=: 

f    r    r — r=g=r — r — 


I 


dark  -  ness      deep  -  ens,       Lord,       with  me          a    -    bide.       When 


oth    -    er        help   -   ers        fail          and  com  -  forts      flee,          Help 


1 1 1 h 


_H ^-i 

.  — «- 


H£. 

a^E 


_ . 


of  the     help  -  less,  Oh,  a   -   bide       with        me. 


o 


rit. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  43 

This  memorial,  though  printed  solely  for  private  use,  is  reprinted 
here,  because  the  lapse  of  twenty  years  has  probably  caused  its  loss 
among  those  who  first  received  it,  and  though  names  are  here  made 
public,  it  is  thought  few  would  object  to  the  loving  words  with 
which  they  are  connected,  if  indeed  Teacher  and  taught  have  not 
ere  this  met  in  the  presence  of  their  common  Lord. 

With  the  admixture  of  evil  with  good  which  is  too  generally  the 
case  in  this  fallen  world,  there  were  some  undesirable  results  fol 
lowing  this  period  of  religious  interest,  which  called  for  notice  on 
the  part  of  the  professors,  and  finally  of  a  letter  from  Bishop 
Mcllvaine  himself.  This  letter  we  give  in  part,  not  only  because 
of  the  signature  thereto,  but  as  showing  the  confidence  and  affection 
existing  between  Dr.  Wharton  and  the  writer. 

.  .  .  .  "As  to  its  (the  prayer-meeting)  usefulness  to  the  Stu 
dents,  I  think  that  would  be  enhanced  were  it  confined  to  them. 
The  more  they  feel  themselves  to  be  the  objects,  and  the  less  they 
feel  as  if  a  miscellaneous  audience  were  aimed  at,  the  more  they 
will  profit.  I  am  always  jealous  of  the  influence  of  a  meeting,  on 
students,  so  secluded  from  society  as  ours,  where  there  is  the  element 
of  young  ladies  to  draw  their  minds ;  and  they  are  tempted  to  be 
going  after  girls  to  bring  them  to  the  meeting,  or  to  take  them 
home.  Always  at  Colleges — the  nuisances  are  the  young  women, 
unless  they  be  very  well  taken  care  of  at  home.  But  woe  is  me  if 
you  let  this  idea  be  known  as  mine  at  Gambier  !  I  have  no  doubt 
there  is  need  of  a  watchful  supervisor  as  to  the  officiating  of  students 
in  the  country  places — that  they  may  have  such  latitude  as  will 
be  useful  to  them,  without  going  beyond  reasonable  bounds,  and 
begetting  in  them  a  loose  idea  of  order,  a  contempt  of  wholesome 
restraint — and  thus  injuring  not  only  themselves  but  the  character 
of  our  institutions  abroad.  We  must  always  expect  to  have  among 
our  young  men  seeking  the  ministry,  a  class  of  minds  well  disposed, 
but  not  well  settled,  as  to  modes  and  ways,  as  matters  of  order  and 
expediency ;  persons  who  may  be  led  to  be  all  right — but  on  whom 
any  extravagance,  anything  not  easily  defensible  in  point  of  order, 
anything  that  looks  like  dangerous  tendency  to  irregularity  is  cal 
culated  to  set  them  backwards  towards  stiffness  and  altitudinous 
churchmanship.  We  are  not  like  congregations  as  usually  situated — 
where  the  Pastor's  influence  is  almost  paramount.  We  have  the 
Bishops  and  clergy,  and  divers  others  connected  with  the  young 


44  .MEMOIR   OF 

men,  whose  influence  is  on  them,  and  we  have  special  need  of  wis 
dom,  of  moderation  as  to  modes,  while  as  distinct  and  strong,  and 
positive  as  possible  in  point  of  truth.  With  us,  I  have  no  doubt, 
it  is  much  better  to  keep  within  the  bounds  of  order  and  expedi 
ency,  rather  than  run  a  risk  of  exceeding  them,  or  of  being  thought 
by  good  men  to  do  so.  Now,  I  wish,  at  this  time,  to  speak  my 
mind  more  than  I  have  ever  done,  as  to  the  daily  prayer-meetings 
at  Gambler. 

"When  I  first  knew  of  them,  they  had  been  going  on  a  good 
while,  their  order  was  established — differences  of  opinion  calculated 
to  do  harm  had  arisen — good  was  being  done — the  feeling  was  up — 
I  saw  some  things  which  I  wished  were  not,  and  I  saw  what  ex 
plained  very  easily  why  Mr.  M.  and  Mr.  K.,  etc.,  kept  aloof,  and 
which  prevented  me  from  thinking  the  less  of  them  for  it,  and  I 
had  a  severe  question  to  settle.  Shall  I  now  disturb  all  this,  and 
turn  off  attention  to  mere  points  of  order  and  general  expediency, 
— and  create  divisions — or  is  it  better  to  turn  in,  and  go  along  as  far 
as  I  can,  and  say  nothing  to  discourage  any,  and  hope  for  the  best? 
I  adopted  the  latter,  and  said  nothing.  But  now  I  can  express  my 
views  without  the  injury  then  apprehended,  but  even  now  not  for 
the  general  ear.  These  daily  prayer-meetings  were  instituted  as 
laymen's  meetings  after  the  example  of  such  meetings  elsewhere. 
I  think  there  was  an  original  mistake  there.  There  is  a  question  of 
difficulty  to  many  earnest  clergymen  as  to  such  meetings  anywhere, 
so  far  (as  generally  is  the  case)  as  a  clergyman,  or  the  Pastors  of 
the  very  people  that  meet  are  considered  as  having  no  more  right 
to  officiate  than  anybody  else,  however  young  or  inexperienced.  I 
confess  I  have  always  felt  that,  and  when  I  have  attended  such 
meetings,  I  have  had  to  get  over  it,  only  by  saying  '  I  will  officiate 
and  take  the  proper  place  as  an  ordained  minister,  in  consistency 
with  the  general  order  of  the  meeting/  But  in  the  peculiar  circum 
stances  of  Gambier,  the  difficulty  was  much  increased.  The  meet 
ing  was  lay,  not  merely  as  respects  the  equal  rights  and  position 
therein  of  the  lay  brethren  of  the  college  faculty  on  one  side,  and 
the  clerical  brethren  on  the  other;  but  of  the  lay  brethren  of  the 
students  in  any  department,  with  the  lay  professors  on  one  side, 
with  their  Rector  and  all  the  resident  clergymen  on  the  other ;  so 
that  on  the  theory  of  the  meeting,  a  boy  of  eighteen  had  just  as 
much  right  to  get  up  and  pray  and  exhort  as  his  Rector.  Though 


DR.   FRANCIS   WHARTON.  45 

this  theory  was  modified  in  the  practice,  nevertheless  it  was  the 
fundamental  idea.  Now,  whatever  its  applicability  to  union  meet 
ings  elsewhere,  where  the  people  attending  are  not  chiefly  minors — 
pupils  under  authority — and  where  there  are  plenty  of  experienced 
laymen  to  lead — the  case  is  quite  different  when  two-thirds  of  the 
meeting  is  of  minors,  boys — inexperienced,  and  two-thirds  of  the 
other  laymen,  are  their  Professors,  and  many  of  the  latter 
clergymen,  related  to  them  in  a  very  peculiar  relation.  A  congre 
gation  of  pupils,  and  those  young,  is  a  very  different  sphere  for 
such  a  theory,  from  one  of  miscellaneous  laity,  of  all  ages,  and 
chiefly  of  persons  long  professing  religion.  Now  when  a  clergy 
man,  say  Mr.  A.  or  B.,  entered  the  meeting  and  was  asked  to  pray 
or  exhort  by  a  student,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  should 
feel  the  position  to  be  very  anomalous — calculated  to  injure  the 
young  men,  and  the  reputation  of  the  College,  etc.  I  like  prayer- 
meetings  among  students,  and  like  to  see  them  meet  together  and 
pray  together,  and  this  as  much  as  possible,  but  I  would  have  them 
always  recognize  the  presence  of  a  clergyman  or  professor  as  such 
when  he  should  be  with  them. 

"Again,  I  thought  it  was  riot  wise  to  encourage  the  young  men 
at  once  to  make  a  public  declaration  of  embracing  Christ,  as  my 
dear  boy,  and  others  did — not  that  I  suppose  it  did  them  any  harm — 
perhaps  it  did  them  good,  and  may  in  these  cases  have  done  good 
to  others — but  in  the  long  run,  with  the  evil  natures  of  men,  and 
especially  of  youth,  it  was  not  well,  I  think.  I  did  not  particularly 
speak  of  it  at  G.,  because  it  was  all  over  when  I  got  there,  and  I 
hoped  it  would  not  occur  again,  and  I  wished  not  to  seem  more 
than  was  necessary  to  take  exception. 

"  Now  my  idea  of  such  a  meeting,  in  such  circumstances,  is  for 
the  mode  of  it  to  be  thus.  Let  the  Rector  institute  it,  as  a  paro 
chial  prayer-meeting,  and  when  he  can,  preside  over  it ; — when  he 
cannot,  have  some  clergyman,  or  some  layman  whose  position  and 
character  are  fit  to  preside ;  and  let  him  select  and  give  out  the 
hymns,  and  if  he  can,  arrange  beforehand  who  will  speak  and  pray. 
I  have  no  objection  to  the  freer  mode  of  prayer,  but  in  the  College 
circumstances  there  is  need  of  some  rule  or  public  feeling  that  shall 
prevent  certain  of  the  College  students  from  offering  to  take  part  in 
prayer  or  address  a  miscellaneous  meeting.  Anywhere,  when  a 
minor,  or  any  such  young  person,  has  put  himself  forward  to  pray 


46  MEMOIR   OF 

in  the  presence  of  an  assembly  of  elders,  I  have  felt  it  was  not  a 
favorable  indication  concerning  himself.  In  such  a  meeting,  for 
such  of  the  lay  professors  and  teachers  as  well  as  the  clericals  to 
take  part  in  prayer  and  address — and  the  theological  students  also 
(with  discretion  as  to  the  last) — it  is  not  only  right,  but  desirable. 

"C.  P.  McILVAINE." 

The  Bishop's  own  son  being  one  of  those  first  interested  in  this 
revival,  it  is  pleasant  to  think  that  his  father  felt  that  in  his  case 
at  least  it  was  a  genuine  Avork. 

"  Before  I  sailed,  and  after  leaving  home,  I  wrote  to  him  much 
at  length,  especially  as  to  reading  and  examining  his  heart.  Now 
all  this  I  say  in  confidence  to  you,  that  you  may  know  what  to  do, 
and  where  to  work  for  him  and  with  him.  Oh  do  be  faithful  with 
him !  Would  it  do  him  good  to  be  engaged  as  a  Sunday-school 
teacher?  Or  had  he  better  have  the  Sunday  to  himself?  Here,  in 
my  room  in  Bonn,  right  under  the  walls  of  the  University,  and  in  a 
population  of  Romish  superstition,  my  heart  goes  over  to  that  dear 
boy  at  Gambier,  and  all  its  anxieties  concentrate  in  this  one  desire 
and  prayer  that  God  in  His  infinite  mercy  will  make  a  deep  and 
thorough  work  of  grace  in  his  heart,  that  he  may  be  indeed  a  fol 
lower  of  Christ,  in  whom  the  power  of  His  Spirit  will  be  glorified. 
The  Lord  be  with  you  all. 

"  Yrs.  very  affect'ly, 

"C.  P.  McILVAINE." 

Again — 

"RAGATZ,  SWITZERLAND,  Sep.  14th,  1858. 
"  MY  DEAR  BRO.  : 

"  I  wrote  you  a  few  days  ago  concerning  my  dear  boy.  My  mind 
was  too  anxious  about  him.  I  wish  now  to  say,  and  I  do  it  with 
great  thankfulness  and  joy,  that  I  received  yesterday  at  Zurich  a 
delightful  and  most  precious  letter  from  him,  entering  sweetly  into 
his  state  of  mind.  It  was  dated  Aug.  13,  and  had  been  much 
delayed  in  reaching  me.  But  it  is  just  what  I  wanted,  a  sweet, 
natural,  humble,  tender  endeavor  to  make  me  understand  his  mind 
spiritually.  Blessed  be  God — for  such  a  consolation  !  I  could  not 
have  a  letter  from  him  more  to  my  mind.  I  have  but  a  few 
moments  to  write,  as  I  wish  before  I  go  to  bed  to  write  to  my  son, 
and  have  been  travelling  all  day.  I  have  now  entire  confidence  in 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  47 

the  work  in  his  heart.  The  Lord  be  praised  for  His  grace.  He  is 
reading  the  Scriptures  regularly,  and  wishes  to  be  guided  to  the 
best  mode.  You  cannot  serve  me  in  any  way  more  nobly  than  by 
endeavoring  to  promote  in  him  the  right  way  of  becoming  more 
and  more  enriched  by,  and  in  love  with  the  Scriptures.  Be  his 
help  in  that.  He  is  systematic  in  secret  prayer,  and  has  become 
fond  of  spiritual,  searching  reading.  He  mentions  especially  his 
sense  of  the  value  of,  and  his  love  for  the  little  book,  '  Advice  to 
a  Young  Christian/  which  I  gave  him,  and  which  I  much  value. 
I  am  here  in  the  S.  E.  of  Switz'd — having  come  here  to-day  by 
Lakes  Zurich  and  Wollenstadt,  and  thence  S.  E.  If  you  take  a 
S.  E.  line  from  the  head  of  the  latter  till  you  meet  the  Rhine  in 
lat.  47° — you  will  find  my  whereabouts — among  the  sources  of  the 
Rhine,  and  near  to  the  baths  of  Pfeifers,  celebrated  for  fine  Alpine 
scenery,  etc.  This  is  an  excursion  from  my  main  route.  Now 
good-night.  The  Lord  be  with  you  all. 

"Very  affectionately  yr's, 

"C.  P.  McILVAINE." 

"CiNN  ,  O.,  April  29,  '57. 

"  MY  DEAR  BRO.  : 

"  I  have  written  a  letter  for  the  Vestry,  and  another  for  the  man 
of  the  two  named,  whom  they  may  choose.  I  hope  one  or  the 
other  may  be  got.  I  am  now  trying  what  I  may  be  fit  for  in  a 
visitation,  and  I  find  my  head  more  disturbed  than  I  hoped  would 
be  the  case.  I  do  not  see  that  I  can  expect  to  endure,  and  escape 
a  sudden  and  entire  break  down,  except  I  can  restrict  my  preach 
ing  to  about  once  a  Sunday,  and  perhaps  once  in  the  week  (on 
visitation),  and  be  exceeding  quiet  in  the  intervals.  The  latter  is 
quite  as  difficult  to  effect  as  the  former.  Incessant  talking — the 
worrying  needs  and  infirmities  of  small  parishes — the  expectations 
which  I  cannot  gratify — the  troubles  which  I  cannot  relieve — seem 
to  wear  on  me  as  much  as  preaching — at  least  on  my  spirits  much 
more — so  that  I  think  my  prospect  of  much  more  work,  except  in 
a  very  quiet  way,  is  not  good.  I  hope  I  am  to  have  a  son  in  the 
ministry,  who  will  take  up  the  message  as  I  am  dropping  it.  I 
have  such  a  sense  of  the  danger  of  leading  in  advance  of  the  Lord, 
that  I  have  purposely  avoided  putting  the  question  of  the  ministry 
before  htm  till  within  two  or  three  weeks.  I  only  want  the  Lord 


48  MEMOIR   OF 

to  lead  and  he  with  a  glad  mind,  to  follow.  I  trust  he  will  feel 
himself  called  by  God,  and  ready  to  say,  '  Here  am  I,  send  me.' 
He  is  now  in  the  question,  and  I  pray  for  him  to  Him  who  only 
can  teach  him.  I  hope  he  may  escape  his  weakness  of  eyes  this 
Spring.  We  were  delighted  with  his  spirit  at  home.  He  was,  as 
before,  disappointed  and  troubled  (as  much  for  my  sake  as  his  own) 
about  his  grading,  and  thinking  he  was  placed  lower  in  Butler  than 
he  deserved,  and  I  should  not  wonder  if  it  were  the  case,  because 
with  honest  and  independent  men,  situated  towards  me  as  the 
Professors  are,  the  temptation,  instead  of  being  unduly  to  favor  my 
son,  will  be  so  to  show  that  they  do  not — that  unconsciously  and 
unintentionally  they  will  err  on  the  other  side. 

"  Yrs.  affectionately, 

"CHAS.  P.  McILVAINE. 
"F.  WHARTON,  ESQ." 

"ELYRIA,  May  10,  '59. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  WHARTON  : 

"As  you  are  the  only  one  who  has  introduced  the  matter  of  an 
Assistant  Bishop  to  me  since  I  went  to  Europe,  I  will  communicate 
a  little  that  is  now  on  my  mind  to  you  as  to  that  matter— not  to 
speak  of  other  reasons,  for  which  I  have  special  facility  in  writing 
to  you  on  so  delicate  a  subject.  ...  If  I  am  to  have  an  Assistant 
to  give  me  real  relief,  of  course  it  must  be  one  in  whose  harmony 
of  views,  spirit,  and  policy,  I  can  justly  rely.  How  many  good 
men  might  be  selected,  in  whom  there  would  be  peculiarities  that 
would  give  uneasiness  instead  of  the  reverse.  Again,  the  welfare 
of  the  Diocese,  its  position  as  to  the  whole  Church,  and  the  posi 
tion  of  the  College  and  Seminary  before  the  Church,  require,  on  the 
part  of  the  Assistant  and  my  successor,  such  a  character,  that  there 
will  be  no  letting  down,  no  moderating  away,  no  indistinctness  or 
indecision  as  to  those  features  of  doctrine,  action,  influence  which 
have  placed  Ohio  where  it  now  is.  We  can  gain  nothing  by  more 
moderation,  less  positiveness,  more  churchiness, — less  prayermeeting- 

ness,  etc.    I  have  learned  in  three  quarters  that  some  talk  of . 

I  do  not  know  who  thus  talk.  It  may  be  they  imagine  that  such 
a  middle  man  might  carry  with  the  evangelical  men,  and  thus  they 
would  secure  eventually  what  they  want — one  of  whom  they  hope 
that  the  mitre  and  some  antagonism  would  make  him  go  up  higher. 
I  hope  there  will  be  no  looking  after  any  such  man,  and  I  hope 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  49 

popularity  of  talents  will  have  but  a  subordinate  and  very  subordi 
nate  influence  in  the  choice ;  last  of  all  the  consideration  of  a  man's 
having  means  of  supporting  himself  to  some  extent.  Our  standard 
is  at  the  mast-head  now,  and  has  always  been,  and  to  that  we  owe 
all.  It  must  not  come  down  one  inch  to  please  anybody,  or  gain 

anything.     Such  as ,  I  think  a  good  deal  of,  and  probably  he 

would  be  a  good  choice  in  New  Jersey — as  good  as  could  be  arrived 
at  there, — to  avoid  much  worse — but  we  must  have  a  more  house 
top  man, — one  who  is  more  grown  a  great  deal  in  the  stature  of 
gospel  strength,  and  boldness  and  decision — one  to  be  a  Captain 
when  spiritual  boldness  and  decidedness  for  Christ  are  the  great 
qualifications. 

"  Yrs.  very  aifect'ly, 

"C.  P.  McILVAINE." 

"  PIQUA,  May  18. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  WHARTON  : 

"Just  before  I  left  home,  I  rec'd  yours  acknowledging  my  last. 

I  had  some  conversation  with  Mr. .     He  thinks  Dr.  A.  would 

secure  a  larger  vote  than  Dr.  B.,  would  be  more  easily  supported, 
and  would  accommodate  himself  more  readily  to  the  Gambier  plan. 
I  like  the  idea  of  the  Assistant  residing  at  G if  a  suitable  per 
son,  and  I  like  Dr.  A.  for  that  purpose,  but  either  would  suit  me. 
Dr.  A.  is  Calvinistic,  and  in  his  strong  positiveness  of  view  suits  me. 
Dr.  B.  you  know  has  a  prayer-meeting  in  his  Sunday-School  room, 
or  at  Least  it  began  there,  and  he  intended,  if  it  grewr  large  enough, 
to  have  it  in  his  Church.  I  was  at  them  both.  He  is  good  there. 
A  dash  of  Calvinism  as  A.  has,  gives  definiteness,  fixedness,  strength, 
confidence  in  evangelical  views,  and  saves  them  from  dangerous 
neighborhoods  and  mixtures  of  uncertainties.  But  I  love  both — 
B.  would  bring  us  an  increase  of  N.  Y.  interests  in  Gambier. 

Mr. says  there  is  great  activity  for  L ,  and  that  he  thinks 

they  can  count  on  a  good  many.  I  cannot  imagine  who  they  all 
are,  but  care  must  be  taken  that  none  whom  we  desire  stay  away — 
for  want  of  knowing  that  they  are  called  to  a  special  and  most 
important  work.  Much  depends  on  an  un-reut  garment.  But 
there  must  be  much  calling  on  God — "Shew  whom  thou  hast  chosen." 
He  can  bow  all  minds  to  one.  Let  us  feel  our  need  of  His 
4 


50  MEMOIR   OF 

ance  and  grace.  Let  us  not  put  off  prayer  till  we  meet  to  vote. 
Let  us  each  privately,  constantly  ask  the  Lord  to  take  it  all  in  His 
own  hand. 

"  Yrs.  very  affectionately, 

"C.  P.  McILVAINE." 

About  this  time  a  movement  was  begun  to  collect  an  additional 
number  of  hymns  to  those  in  the  Prayer-book.  Dr.  Wharton  was 
one  of  those  appointed  by  the  General  Convention  to  form  a  Com 
mittee  on  the  Hymnody  of  our  Church,  In  this  work  he  was 
very  active,  and  the  following  letters  have  been  selected  for  their 
bearing  on  this  subject  and  for  their  intrinsic  interest. 

"BALTIMORE,  March  17,  1857. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

"  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  contribute  to  your  proposed  work,  and 
have  been  long  casting  about  for  materials  wherewithal  to  set  forth 
a  Hymnal  of  the  kind  you  have  in  view.  It  would  be  a  valuable 
book  at  any  rate,  and  if  well  arranged,  would  I  think  be  adopted 
by  the  Church.  Would  it  not  be  almost  necessary  for  those  who 
are  to  co-operate  in  this  business  to  have  one  meeting  at  least  '  eye 
to  eye'  ? 

"  Let  us  take  a  Scriptural  Basis  : 

(1)  Psalms — versified. 

(2)  Hymns — and  paraphrased  Scripture. 

(3)  Spiritual  Songs. 

"  Under  this  third  head  would  come  in  such  a  song  as  Bishop 
Meade  imagines  to  be  *'  addressed  to  a  Star.7  Was  ever  such  a 
prosaic  mind  ?  As  if  the  '  Star  of  Jacob'  and  '  Star  of  the 
East'  were  not  recognized  titles  of  our  Saviour !  Still,  our  book 
must  be  for  all  '  sorts  and  conditions  of  men ;'  men,  whom  God 
has  made  of  bone  and  sinew,  as  well  as  those  whom  he  has  fash 
ioned  of  finer  fibre,  and  for  different  work.  Let  me  hope  that 
Bishop  Burgess  and  Bishop  Williams  will  be  consulted.  They 
have  peculiar  claims  to  be  so  in  such  a  department.  But  may  I 
suggest  caution  as  to  other  Episcopal  members  of  your  '  Commis 
sion' — or  composition  rather, — whose  talents  may  be  great,  but  who 

*  Star  of  Bethlehem. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  51 

might  not  work  with  such  a  man  as  Bishop  Burgess.  Dr.  Bow 
man's  wise  idea  of  uniting  '  conflicting7  elements  may  seem  to 
require  this  abatement.  But  I  say  this  in  confidence. 

"  Always,  with  kind  regards, 

"  Your  friend  and  brother, 

"A.  CLEVELAND  COXE. 

"FRANCIS  WHARTON,  ESQ." 

'  •   », 

"April  22d,  1857. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  WHARTON  : 

"  I  fear  you  did  not  get  my  letter  answering  your  last,  and  con 
taining  the  newspaper  cutting,  which  is  underlined,  relative  to  the 
authorship  of  the  hymns.  In  it  I  stated  that  my  engagements  for 
the  twenty-third  and  twenty-fourth  render  it  impossible  for  me  to 
leave  home,  but  I  shall  be  with  you  in  heart,  and  if  you  can  stop 
over  a  train,  or  a  night  and  see  me,  I  can  get  the  results  of  the 
conference  and  work  accordingly.  Give  my  love  to  the  brethren, 
lay  and  clerical.  I  wrote  you  yesterday  about  the  allegations  of 
Dr.  T.  All  my  assailants  seem  to  dodge  the  main  issue.  None 
of  them  prove  that  the  Society  had  a  right  to  embark  in  this  work. 
They  all  try  to  shew  how  great  an  improvement  has  been  effected. 
This  is  matter  of  taste  merely ;  the  noble  unity  of  feeling  on  this 
subject,  which  exists  among  us,  and  even  among  many  others,  is  a 
good  sign.  An  aged  Congregational  minister,  a  professor  in  one 
of  the  New  England  Colleges,  has  written  to  assure  me  that  he 
entirely  agrees  with  me  in  the  main  drift  and  scope  of  my  argu 
ment.  Bishop  Williams  writes  me  that  he  goes  into  the  Hymnal 
business  with  all  his  heart.  I  return  Dr.  M.'s  letter,  and  desire  to 
present  my  kind  acknowledgments  to  your  mother  for  her  kind 
invitation  which  will  be  not  in  my  power  to  accept.  Please  pre 
sent  my  kind  regards  to  good  Bishop  Potter  if  you  meet  him. 

"  Faithfully  yr's, 

"A.  CLEVELAND  COXE." 

"MARCH  24th,  1857. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

"  Yours  of  the  23d  is  certainly  a  step  in  advance.  It  surmounts 
the  first  difficulties,  but  if  our  work  is  to  be  a  valuable  and  per 
manent  one,  let  us  be  prepared  for  greater  difficulties  as  we 
advance.  The  price  of  all  real  good  seems  to  me  fixed  by  eternal 


52  MEMOIR   OF 

law  to  a  certain  ratio  of  labor.  When  we  have  collected  our  hymns 
we  must  not  take  them  crude,  but  submit  them  to  castigation. 
There  are  excellent  hymns  abroad,  which  need  but  one  word  altered 
to  be  fit  for  a  Church  Hymnal,  and  I  take  it  such  words  must  be 
cast  out.  The  object  is,  not  to  gather  the  literary  treasures  of  the 
language ;  they  may  be  found  in  the  works  of  their  respective 
authors,  but  we  want  hymns  for  the  use  of  edifying,  and  cannot 
admit  any  false  taste,  or  false  sentiment.  Is  it  not  so  ? 

"  Then  I  think  we  should  agree  to  publish  our  Hymnal  on  our 
own  hook,  and  merely  aim  to  get  it  licensed  for  use  (over  and 
above  those  we  have)  where  any  congregations  may  desire  it ;  not 
removing  our  present  collection  from  the  Prayer-book.  If  our 
work  be  well  done,  the  way  will  open  for  the  gradual  absorption 
of  the  existing  collection,  and  the  Hymnal  will  have  grown  to 
shape  and  maturity.  I  agree  with  you  as  to  making  it  a  copy 
right  to  pay  expenses  first,  and  then — to  go  to  a  fund  for  super 
annuated  clergy,  or  something  else  good.  I  like  the  plan  here 
suggested  of  examining  existing  hymn-books  (what  Romish  ones 
are  there  if  we  except  the  Breviary  hymns  ?)  but  would  suggest 
not  the  striking  out  the  bad  ones,  which  will  be  legion,  but  that 
each  member  should  mark  those  which  for  any  reason  he  may 
desire  to  include.  On  the  1  st  of  September  your  clerk  can  make 
out  the  list,  and  in  October  we  can  meet  and  compare,  and  con 
sider  suggestions  as  to  correction,  etc. 

"  2nd.  I  have  anticipated  this  difficulty  of  personal  authorship. 
Would  it  not  be  well  to  take  the  ground  that  no  member  of  the 
Committee  shall  include  anything  of  his  own,  nor  allow  anything 
original  to  be  included?  This  is  the  high-toned  principle  which 
will  give  our  brethren  confidence  in  our  work,  as  entirely  above 
personal  and  ambitious  aims.  If,  when  we  are  dead  and  gone,  the 
Church  should  add  hymns  of  ours  to  her  recognized  treasures,  why 
then  Laus  Deo!  but  can  we  decently  propose  any  of  our  own 
(whinings  or  ecstasies)  as  fit  for  the  public  worship  of  Jehovah  ? 
I  think  not.  As  to  Keble,  I  agree  with  you  entirely,  and  as  to 
the  great  desirableness  of  good  translations  from  the  Latin  and 
German  I  also  agree  ;  but  I  fancy  we  must  be  content  with  existing 
translations.  Your  plan  of  sending  to  Bishop  Potter  is  excellent, 
if  the  contribution  of  original  paraphrases  and  translations  is  to  be 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  53 

tolerated  at  all.  As  to  original  Carolina — I  hope  they  are  out  of 
the  question,  but  translations  are  not  altogether  the  same  thing.  I 
am  really  very  glad  you  move  in  this  business  with  so  much 
energy.  It  requires  somebody  like  you  to  drive  together  the  con 
genial  elements,  out  of  which  your  proposal  is  to  take  shape  and 
substance.  I  hope  you  will  not  only  contribute  your  share,  but 
keep  the  rest  up  to  the  work. 

"  Truly  yours, 

"A.  CLEVELAND  COXE." 

"  MARCH  19,  1857. 
aMY  DEAR  SIR: 

"  By  all  means  let  us  have  a  partial  meeting  if  we  cannot  get 
together  the  whole  body.  I  wish  some  Southern  laymen  (low- 
Church,  if  we  must  use  such  terms)  could  be  added ;  and,  by  all 
means,  let  us  ask  somebody  from  South  Carolina.  It  is  impossible 
for  me  to  leave  before  Easter,  for  I  have  classes  and  lectures,  and 
all  sorts  of  duties  every  day.  But  Easter  comes  April  12th.  The 
10th  is  Good  Friday  (when  I  should  be  sorry  to  have  you  engaged  in 
moving  by  the  way),  and  on  the  whole  I  fear  we  may  not  be  able 
to  get  together  much  before  May.  The  Board  of  Missions  in  the 
Autumn  will  afford  a  good  chance  for  a  rally.  I  do  not  anticipate 
much  practical  difference  among  ourselves.  As  you  say,  in  prayer 
and  praise  we  surely  can  agree,  and  all  who  have  the  root  of  the 
matter  in  them  do  agree  far  more  than  they  imagine.  I  am  a  Low- 
Churchman  too,  if  that  means  the  finest  of  the  wheat  for  food,  but  I 
am  a  High-Churchman  too,  because  we  wrant  the  bran  besides  for 
seed.  My  view  is  that  the  High-Churchman,  who  is  not  high  and 
dry,  values  the  outworks  for  the  sake  of  the  inworks,  and  the  hulk 
only  because  when  that  is  destroyed,  you  cannot  preserve  the  vital 
principle.  Where  has  the  Gospel  survived  when  the  Church  system 
has  been  lost  ?  I  suspect  you  go  as  far  as  that.  However,  we  can 
sing  and  pray  together  to  all  Eternity.  Perhaps  (if  we  cannot  meet) 
the  time  till  next  October  might  be  profitably  spent,  by  letting  each 
member  select  all  the  hymns,  etc.  which  he  would  care  to  include. 
Then  let  us  compare  notes,  and  half  the  work  will  be  done. 

"  Faithfully  yours, 

"A.  CLEVELAND  COXE." 


54  MEMOIR   OF 

Dr.  Muhlenberg  thus  writes  : — 

"NEW  YORK,  March  12TH,  '57. 
"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

"  I  am  rejoiced  at  your  proposition  for  a  good  Church  Hymn- 
book,  and  shall  feel  it  a  privilege  to  have  a  hand  in  it,  but  it  will 
be  a  work  of  labor,  and  of  more  labor  I  fear  than  is  likely  to  be 
given  to  it.  You  name  excellent  men  for  it,  but  how  much  of 
their  time,  talents,  and  pains  would  they  contribute?  They  cannot 
work  apart,  or  at  least  not  wholly  so.  They  must  meet  from  time 
to  time.  Passing  manuscripts  around  and  exchanging  their  criti 
cisms  in  writing  would  be  an  endless  business.  Certainly  there 
must  be  a  preparatory  meeting  to  determine  the  principles  on  which 
the  selection  shall  be  made — how  large  it  shall  be — whether  for 
public  or  private  use — or  both,  etc.  The  first  thing  is  to  get 
together  those  you  name — and  any  others — and  let  them  agree 
together  heartily  upon  the  work,  and  to  prosecute  it  faithfully.  I 
will  attend  such  a  meeting.  The  burden  will  fall  chiefly  on  your 
self.  You  should  be  the  standing  executive  in  the  recess  of  the 
committee.  In  the  outset,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  should  like 
to  have  a  good  long  talk  with  you,  for  which  purpose  suppose  you 
run  over  here  on  Saturday,  and  spend  Sunday  with  me.  I  wish 
you  would.  We  should  then  have  made  a  beginning.  I  cannot 
go  to  Philadelphia  during  Lent,  and  you  must  not  put  it  oif  till 
after  Easter,  so  it  is  demonstrable  that  you  should  come  here. 

"  Yr?s  very  truly, 

"W.  A.  MUHLENBERG." 

Mr.  R.  H.  Dana  thus  writes  : — 

"MARCH  13TH,  '57. 

"  DEAR  SIR  : 

"You  must  pardon  my  too  long  delay  in  answering  your  letter. 
I  have  never  paid  particular  attention  to  the  subject  on  which  you 
write,  and  to  take  part  in  what  you  propose  so  as  at  all  to  satisfy 
myself  woidd  require  more  of  me  than  I  can  do  now  in  my  poor 
state  of  health.  I  wish  that  I  could  feel  more  hopeful  of  your 
success,  but  I  fear  that  the  result  might  be  another  instance  of  the 
truth  of  the  homely  adage  :  '  Too  many  cooks,  etc.7  Besides,  we 
have  been  so  used  to  singing  narratives  in  verse — to  singing  one 
to  another — each  about  himself — to  singing  doctrines  put  into 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  55 

rhyme,  and  they  often  not  of  the  soundest,  that  the  distinctive 
idea  of  a  hymn  being  a  form  of  supplication,  of  thanks  and  of 
praise,  of  its  being  essentially  direct  worship  of  God  possesses  too 
few  men  to  allow  of  a  large  Commission  which  would  bring  forth 
a  selection  worthy  of  the  Church.  If  so,  the  authority  which  a 
large  Commission  would  have  over  the  people,  would  only  serve  to 
prolong  the  present  evil,  or  at  best  but  to  practically  soften  and 
modify  it.  To  start  with,  there  must  go  to  such  a  work,  the  promi 
nent  idea  of  direct  worship ;  then  a  musical  ear,  nice  discrimina 
tion,  pure  taste,  depth  and  delicacy  of  feeling,  and  a  susceptible 
imagination,  easily  borne  upward.  The  thoughts  and  spirits  of 
those  working  together  must  be  in  general  harmony.  Talk  as  we 
may,  high  and  low  can  hardly  act  together  with  a  natural  consci 
entiousness  in  such  a  delicate  matter,  and  if  they  cannot  act  natu 
rally,  the  result  must  be  little  worth.  For  the  most  part,  compro 
mises  only  stave  off  present  difficulties  to  meet  us  again  by  and 
by  in  greater  force.  Let  compromises  in  among  the  finer  feelings, 
and  all  will  be  quickly  in  a  tangle.  Defective  as  matters  now  are, 
would  it  not  be  better  to  wait  for  the  day  of  minds  better  pre 
pared  for  such  a  work,  and  are  they  not  gradually  forming  ?  Or, 
if  there*  must  be  action,  would  it  not  be  best  for  some  one  person 
fitted  for  the  work  to  undertake  it,  occasionally  advising  in  a  quiet 
way  with  a  few,  on  whose  judgment  and  taste  he  had  reliance? 
The  task  done,  and  recommendations  from  those  standing  high  in 
the  Church  being  procured,  the  book  would  go  forth  with  much  the 
same  authority  as  from  a  Commission,  and  probably  with  a  char 
acter  of  much  more  self-congruity.  Let  the  work  be  undertaken 
how  and  when  it  may  be,  would  not  two  hundred,  or  even  a  less 
number  be  better  than  Mr.  Beecher's  three  hundred  pieces?  How 
ever  great  the  selection,  people  become  fond  of,  and  commit  to 
memory  only  a  few  out  of  the  many,  and  it  is  curious  to  observe 
how  common  it  is  for  all  sorts  of  individuals  to  fasten  upon  the 
same  hymns.  A  large  number  of  pieces  serve  little  other  purpose 
than  to  distract  the  mind,  and  remove  the  distinct  impression  of  the 
few — choice  and  few  !  If  a  selection  should  be  made,  what  a  bless 
ing  it  would  be  if  a  small  selection  of  tunes  appropriated  to  the 
several  hymns  should  accompany  it.  Is  not  a  good  deal  of  what  I 
have  said  about  hymns  still  more  applicable  to  what  is  called  sacred 
music  ?  But  who  is  the  man  to  whom  to  entrust  such  a  work  ? 


56  MEMOIR   OF 

Pardon  my  troubling  you  with  all  this.  I  had  no  thought  of  doing 
so  when  I  began.  The  same  things  have  doubtless  been  considered 
by  you  long  ago. 

"  Truly  yr's, 

"BOSTON,  MASS.  "RICHARD  H.  DANA." 

Mr.  R.  H.  Dana,  Jr.,  thus  writes : 

"CAMBRIDGE  (BOSTON). 
"  SUNDAY  EV'G,  March  22o,  '57. 
"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

"  I  feel  flattered  by  being  selected  as  one  of  the  Commission  for 
so  laudable  a  purpose  as  you  have  in  hand.  A  few  years  ago,  I 
should  have  accepted  the  offer  gladly,  and  from  duty.  But  my 
engagements  now  are  so  pressing,  I  am  so  precisely  in  that  '  dead 
waste,  and  middle'  of  professional  life,  between  thirty-five  and 
forty-five,  when  the  decision  for  the  condition  of  the  rest  of  life  is 
to  be  made,  that  I  am  sure  I  could  not  do  justice  to  the  Office,  nor 
to  myself.  Another  reason  that  influences,  is  that  for  many  years 
I  have  lost  all  interest  in  metrical  hymns,  and  their  music, — so 
much  so  that  I  rarely  open  the  Prayer-book  when  the  hymns  or 
metrical  psalms  are  given  out.  I  would  gladly  see  the  whole 
of  our  metrical  psalms  laid  aside  from  the  Prayer-book,  and  the 
Clergy  at  liberty  to  give  out  passages  from  the  Psalter  instead.  Of 
the  two  hundred  and  twelve  hymns  in  our  Prayer-book  I  should 
probably  use  my  veto  against  the  two  hundred,  and  be  rather 
an  impracticable  member  of  a  Commission.  In  my  own  family 
worship,  the  circle  consisting  of  the  two  heads,  and  children  under 
fourteen,  we  have  never  sung  anything  but  one  of  three  or  four  of 
the  old  Gregorian  chants  in  unison,  and  we  are  extremely  attached 
to  them.  I  cannot  expect  all  to  feel  as  I  do  on  this  point,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that  a  book  of  hymns  edited  by  this  Commission 
would  be  serviceable  and  popular.  But  I  should  be  an  over-occu 
pied  and  impracticable  member,  and  perhaps  this  is  not  a  perma 
nent  mood  with  me.  On  one  point,  your  opinion  rather  surprises 
me — that  is  that  there  are  not  great  doctrinal  differences  in  hymns. 
It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that,  especially  with  those  who  have 
no  Liturgy,  the  hymns  and  versions  of  Psalms  have  been  powerful, 
constant,  and  unperceived  indoctrinations.  I  have  found,  on  going 
to  the  bottom  of  the  matter,  that  much  doctrine  can  be  traced  to 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  57 

them.  For  instance,  how  much  of  that  melancholy,  dubious,  and 
mortuary  view  of  the  condition  of  souls  after  death,  and  opposition 
to  prayers  for  the  dead,  may  be  traced  to  Dr.  Watts's  hymn  :  '  Life 
is  the  time,  etc.7  Grand  and  gloomy  it  is  too  !  Let  me  ask  you, 
by  the  way,  if  Grabbers  Methodist  hymn  in  Sir  Eustace  Gray 
*  Pilgrim  burdened  with  thy  sin7  is  to  be  found  complete  and  un- 
garbled  anywhere  ?  It  seems  to  me  one  of  the  best  of  its  kind.  I 
congratulate  you,  my  dear  Sir,  on  having  the  heart  and  energy  for 
this  work.  It  will  not  return  to  you  void,  even  if  the  Commission 
does  not  succeed. 

"  Believe  me,  very  truly  yr's, 

"RICH'D  H.  DANA,  JR. 
"FRANCIS  WHARTON,  ESQ." 

The  following  is  from  Bp.  Bowman  : — 

"LANCASTER,  Mar.  13,  '57. 

"  F.  WHARTON,  ESQ. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  thank  you  for  two  nice  little  Hymn  Books 
this  morning  received.  Ryle's  selection  I  am  acquainted  with.  The 
other  is  new  to  me.  Ryle's  is  excellent.  His  4th  Hymn  e  Just  as 
I  am,  etc./  is  worth  a  score  of  the  trashy  productions  we  so  often 
meet  with,  having  neither  Gospel  nor  Poetry  to  recommend  them. 
I  shall  have  pleasure  in  examining  the  other,  as  soon  as  I  find 
leisure. 

"  I  write  now  to  excuse  my  seeming  neglect  in  finishing  an 
article  promised  for  your  columns.  I  am  the  less  concerned,  how 
ever,  because  I  daresay  your  readers  care  very  little  whether  they 
see  it  soon  or  never,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  find  time,  and  still 
more  so  to  fix  my  mind  upon  it.  To  increase  my  distractions, 
P.  has  just  received  a  very  advantageous  (pecuniarily)  offer  from 
Davenport,  Iowa,  which  he  has  determined  to  accept.  My  resig 
nation  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Wardens,  but  not  yet  acted  upon  by 
the  Vestry.  Now  I  must  recall  it,  and  embark  again  in  that  most 
perplexing  inquiry — '  The  search  for  a  clergyman  who  will  work 
hard  on  little  pay.'  If  you  know  of  such  a  one,  pray  let  me 
hear.  As  soon,  however,  as  I  can,  I  will  resume  a  subject  on  which 
my  convictions  grow  stronger  the  more  I  investigate  it.  In  the 
meantime  I  remain, 

"Very  truly  yr.  friend, 

"SAMUEL  BOWMAN." 


58  MEMOIR   OF 

"LANCASTER,  April  7TH,  '57. 
u  MY  DEAR  SlR  : 

"  Your  notes  and  the  parcel  have  come  safely.  I  thank  you  for 
them.  I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  be  able  to  do  enough  on  the  Com 
mission  to  compensate  for  all  the  trouble  I  am  putting  you  to ;  but 
I  will  be  at  least  a  willing  laborer,  if  not  a  very  efficient  one.  If 
there  is  anything  to  .be  done  at  the  proposed  meeting  on  the  24th, 
I  certainly  (D.  V.)  will  come  down.  I  should  be  very  glad  to  meet 
some  of  the  Committee,  and  hear  the  matter  talked  over.  If  then, 
Dr.  Muhlenberg  and  Mr.  Cox  will  certainly  be  in  the  City  on  the 
day  named,  I  will  try  to  meet  them.  My  reason  for  not  pursuing 
the  subject  of  Free  Churches  with  more  alacrity,  was,  that  I  doubted 
if  there  was  any  lively  interest  felt  in  the  subject.  If  you  think  it 
worth  while,  however,  I  will  complete  my  original  design,  which 
indeed  I  had  not  abandoned,  but  only  postponed. 

"  I  thank  you  for  your  suggestion  of  the  name  of  Mr.  R.  The 
greatest  favor  to  me  now  would  be  to  find  a  man  of  earnest  spirit, 
capable  of  work,  and  not  afraid  of  it.  But  if  the  politicians  have 
faith  to  believe  that  the  right  man  appears  at  the  right  time, 
Christians  ought  not  to  doubt,  that  if  the  work  be  really  for  the 
glory  of  God,  God  will  certainly  send  some  one  to  perform  it. 
I  think  you  take  the  right  view  in  regard  to  new  translations  and 
original  compositions,  provided  they  are  good,  and  of  that,  the 
Commission  will  judge,  as  they  will  in  all  other  cases.  Did  you 
ever  see  a  selection  for  public  and  private  occasions  published  by 
the  late  Dr.  Mil  nor,  I  think  (for  it  was  anonymous)  ?  I  had  a 
copy  of  it  many  years  ago,  but  unfortunately  have  mislaid  it.  It 
contained  I  think  about  two  hundred  hymns.  I  remember  several 
capital  ones  that  were  in  it,  but  they  can  be  found  elsewhere.  If 
the  meeting  on  the  twenty-fourth  should  be  abandoned,  have  the 
goodness  to  let  me  know.  Hoping  to  see  you  at  that  time, 

"  Very  truly  yr's, 

"SAMUEL  BOWMAN." 

"LANCASTER,  Sep.  28,  '57. 
"  DEAR  SIR  : 

"Yours  of  the  22nd  received.  I  have  been  looking  forward 
with  great  interest  to  the  proposed  meeting  in  New  York  next 
month,  but  after  all  I  must  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  being 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  59 

present.  A  wedding  that  I  cannot  be  dispensed  from  officiating  at, 
is  fixed  for  the  14th  of  October.  Of  course  it  will  be  out  of 
the  question  that  I  should  be  at  both.  I  regret  my  disappointment 
the  less  however,  because  I  think  I  should  be  of  little  service  on 
the  Committee.  My  thoughts  have  been  too  much  distracted  this 
summer  by  other  and  indispensable  engagements  at  home  to  permit 
me  to  give  that  care  to  the  business  of  the  Committee  that  I  find 
it  requires.  I  am  surprised  to  hear  from  Dr.  Muhlenberg  that 
he  had  made  his  selection  of  600  Hymns,  and  has  them  all 
arranged  under  suitable  heads.  He  has  had  large  experience  in 
this  sort  of  work,  and  has  probably  acquired  a  facility  that  I 
cannot  pretend  to.  From  the  progress  I  have  yet  made  I  doubt 
whether  I  should  find  600  hymns  in  our  wrhole  language  that 
would  satisfy  me.  As  I  proceed,.  I  am  more  and  more  struck  with 
the  superior  finish  and  more  uniform  excellence  of  our  own  col 
lection.  Certainly,  we  have  some  that  have  no  very  high  poetical 
pretensions,  but  where  these  are  wanting,  there  is  usually  some 
clear  enunciation  of  important  Scriptural  truth  that  more  than 
makes  up  for  the  absence  of  poetic  merit.  In  other  collections  I 
find  a  great  many  very  commonplace  hymns,  and  even  hymns  of 
acknowledged  excellence  are  frequently  disfigured  by  low,  familiar, 
and  irreverent  expressions  or  words.  Our  hymns,  for  the  most 
part,  are  carefully  pruned  of  all  this.  With  me,  the  process  of 
selection  is  very  slow.  I  find  that  after  reading  three,  four,  or 
half  a  dozen  hymns  in  succession,  I  begin  to  lose  the  power  of 
clear  perception  and  just  discrimination.  I  am  puzzled  to  select, 
when  there  is  often  such  an  equality  of  merit,  and  pass  over  many 
hymns  of  considerable  merit  in  the  hope  of  finding  enough  that  is 
better  to  make  up  the  requisite  number.  I  have  now,  however, 
no  hope  of  doing  that,  and  shall  only  indicate  those,  whether  many 
or  few,  that  approve  themselves  to  my  judgment.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  likely  that  upon  a  review  I  should  in  many  cases  throw 
out  those  that  I  had  at  first  selected  and  admit  as  many  that  I  had 
rejected.  This  preliminary  selection  will  do  very  well  for  a 
beginning,  but  I  am  persuaded  that  the  better  plan  will  be  for 
the  Committee  to  be  together  in  their  examinations  and  selections ; 
let  the  hymns  be  read  aloud,  and  let  the  criticisms  be  made  on  the 
instant  and  from  all  sides.  The  collision  will  sharpen  every  one's 
faculties,  and  every  man  will  do  his  part  better,  if  he  does  it  under 


60  MEMOIR   OF 

such  a  stimulus.  As  far  as  practicable,  however,  I  suppose  the 
Committee  will  follow  this  course.  I  am  sorry  that  I  can  do  little 
more  than  wish  you  a  pleasant  time,  and  a  prosperous  prosecution 
of  the  objects  of  the  Committee. 

"  Very  truly  yr.  friend, 

"SAMUEL  BOWMAN. 
"FRANCIS  WHARTON,  ESQ." 

In  opposition  to  the  somewhat  wet  blanket  nature  of  the  latter 
letters,  are  given  below  Dr.  Muhlenberg's  views  as  published  by 
him  at  that  time  in  his  '  Memorial'  pamphlet : — 

"  Singing  in  metre  is  ever  the  delight  of  the  masses  moved  by 
religion.  The  hymn  in  the  church  answers  to  the  ballad  in  the 
nation.  The  chorales  of  Luther  did  as  much  for  the  Reformation 
as  his  preaching.  Not  to  cite  from  history  the  many  instances  in 
point,  what  would  Methodism,  at  its  rise,  have  done  without  its 
hymnody  ?  What,  would  it  now  do  ?  It  sprang  from  the  bosom 
of  the  English  Church,  but  not  there  did  it  get  this  instrument 
of  its  success — not  there  did  it  gather  the  rhythm  of  its  hallelujahs 
that 'rent  the  air  wherever  the  preacher  lifted  his  voice.  So  little 
of  sacred  melody  did  its  author  find  in  use  among  the  people,  that 
for  the  stirring  compositions  with  which  he  roused  their  devotions, 
he  had  recourse,  in  part,  to  secular  airs.  He  has  been  blamed  for 
this,  but  it  was  a  necessity  of  the  times.  The  people  must  sing, 
and  they  could  sing  only  what  they  knew.  He  and  his  brother 
could  not  make  tunes  for  all  the  verses  they  wrote.  The  tongues 
and  ears  of  the  common  people  had  not  been  familiarized  to  the 
songs  of  Zion.  The  Evangelical  movement  was  also  marked  by 
a  new  out-pouring  of  hymns  and  melodies  which  have  been  the 
means  of  cherishing  divine  affections  in  the  heart  of  thousands  from 
that  day  to  this.  Meanwhile  the  legitimate  parochial  psalmody 
kept  on,  from  generation  to  generation,  in  the  doggrel  of  Sternhold 
and  Hopkins,  or  the  somewhat  improved  rhymes  of  Tate  and 
Brady,  sung  to  the  tunes  approved  by  the  parish  clerk.  Hymns 
were  rare.  The  two  of  Bishop  Ken  for  morning  and  evening 
(worth  indeed  an  hundred  of  most  others)  were  almost  the  only 
ones  in  general  use.  In  the  old  English  Prayer-books  we  find 
some  half  a  dozen  more,  differing  in  different  editions.  The  ex 
treme  poverty  of  the  English  Church  in  this  aliment  of  popular 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  61 

devotion  is  remarkable  and  indicative,  may  we  not  say,  of  her 
genius — how  unlike  the  treasures  of  evangelical  hymnody  in  the 
churches  of  the  continent,  particularly  the  Lutheran  and  Moravian? 
It  is  a  healthful  sign  of  late  years  that  the  use  of  hymns  has  now 
become  much  more  common  in  the  English  congregations.  In  this 
respect  their  freedom  is  much  larger  than  ours.  Every  congrega 
tion  may  have  a  book  of  its  own.  The  church  in  this  country  has 
evinced  a  remarkable  disaffection  to  hymns.  Until  the  year  1808 
the  whole  of  the  authorized  number  was  27,  it  was  then  enlarged 
to  56.  In  1826  the  present  208,  not  until  after  considerable  oppo 
sition,  were  admitted  (of  which  it  is  relevant  to  remark  in  passing, 
a  large  number  are  the  compositions  of  non-Episcopalians),  but 
with  the  retention  of  that  most  extraordinary  rubric  which  forbids 
their  use  on  any  occasion  when  one  of  the  psalms  in  metre  is 
not  also  sung.  This  operates  to  the  entire  exclusion  of  hymns 
whenever  the  order  for  morning  or  evening  prayer  is  alone  used, 
although  of  that  order  the  psalms  make  so  large  a  part.  Hence, 
in  churches  in  which  there  is  the  daily  service,  not  a  song  of  praise 
is  heard  except  on  Sundays  and  holy  days,  in  which  a  Jew  as  well 
as  a  Christian  might  not  join.  Whence  this  jealousy  of  evangelical 
devotion,  and  of  a  form  of  it,  in  which,  as  has  been  said,  the  com 
mon  people  especially  delight  ?  Is  it  a  sign  that  ours  is  a  church 
for  the  common  people  ? 

"  The  Church  of  England  has  a  sublime  song  of  her  own  in  the 
choral  service  and  glorious  anthem  of  her  cathedrals — that  constant 
offering  of  praise,  worthy  of  the  great  people  of  whom  it  may  be 
considered  as  the  solemn  matin  and  vesper  song  of  the  nation. 
Grand  as  it  is,  in  that  point  of  view — esto  perpetua — it  yet  touches 
not  the  immediate  consciousness  of  the  people.  They  are  not 
active  in  it.  It  is  the  delegated  service  of  the  official'choir,  uttered 
six  days  out  of  seven,  almost  in  solitude,  and  amid  no  crowds  on 
the  seventh.  The  common  people  pass  the  cathedral  unallured  by 
its  time-hallowed  strains,  for  the  conventicle  in  whose  hearty  melo 
dies  they  can  take  their  part.  We  may  say  it  is  bad  taste,  and  that 
it  is  the  church's  office  to  elevate  men's  tastes.  Very  well,  but 
aside  from  the  de  gustibus  it  is  not  her  first  object ;  it  does  not 
come  into  her  pioneer  work.  There  may  be  rudeness,  even  coarse 
ness  to  our  ears,  and  yet  true  worship,  which,  too,  may  be  all  the 
heartier  for  those  very  qualities.  We  boast  of  the  social  character 


62  MEMOIR   OF        | 

of  our  service  compared  with  that  of  some  other  Christians,  as  we 
may  justly  do,  looking  at  its  idea.  But  how  is  it  in  practice,  in 
practice  so  nearly  universal  that  there  must  be  something  in  our 
system  to  account  for  it?  where  is  there  actually  the  most  social 
worship  ?  In  one  of  our  churches  with  the  whispered  response  of 
the  people  and  the  song  of  praise  confined  to  the  quartette  in  the 
organ  loft,  or  in  the  Wesleyan  meeting  with  its  shouted  glorias  and 
spontaneous  amens  ?" 

The  result  of  the  Commission  is  well  known.  A  book  of  500 
Hymns,  called  t  Hymns  for  Church  and  Home/  was  published, 
and  used  for  some  years ;  then  superseded  by  a  smaller  number 
of  ( Additional  Hymns7  bound  up  with  those  in  the  Prayer-book, 
and  this  was  finally  merged  in  the  Hymnal  now  in  use. 

Dr.  Wharton's  editorship  of  the  '  Protestant  Episcopal  Quarterly 
Review/  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  John  Cotton  Smith  and  Dr. 
May  of  the  Alexandria  Seminary,  led  to  some  correspondence  of 
which  these  letters  alone  remain. 

"THEOL.  SEM.,  Feb.  6th,  '57. 
"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

"  Your  letter  from  Pittsburg  was  very  kind,  and  did  me  good. 
I  rejoice  to  hear  such  a  good  account  of  Kenyon.  Some  defections 
among  so  many  youths  setting  out  towards  the  Kingdom  of  God 
are  not  strange,  that  is  they  are  things  which  all  experience  would 
have  led  us  to  expect,  but  much  good  seed  no  doubt  will  ripen. 
Your  project  of  a  mission  to  Kansas  is  good — excellent,  but  we 
are  to  see  you  here  first.  Give  us  4th,  5th,  6th,  7th,  etc.  etc.  of 
March,  and  bring  Mr.  Bohlen.  Are  we  not  to  have  more  lec 
tures?  I  vote  yea  most  loudly.  If  no  editorial  Board  for  the 
1  Review'  can-  be  had  in  Philadelphia,  could  there  not  be  a  Board 
of  Assistants  there,  and  an  Editor  here  ?  The  t  Review'  might  be 
printed  in  Philadelphia  and  published  in  the  two  cities,  New  York 
and  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Dyer  remains  the  New  York  agent.  I 
throw  this  out  for  consideration.  It  can  be  brought  up  when  you 
and  Mr.  Bohlen  come  on.  Dr.  Dyer  writes  me  word  that  since 
the  January  number,  some  new  subscribers  have  been  obtained. 
I  received  this  week  delightful  letters  from  Africa.  As  I  read 
them  to  Mrs.  May  and  Miss  Bowman,  they  were  in  tears.  Such 
correspondence  refreshes  and  helps  me.  It  goes  to  my  heart. 
Oh  that  all  our  Church  could  drink  more  of  the  Spirit  given  to 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  63 

them.  The  missionaries  seem  now  to  be  in  good  health,  and  much 
encouraged.  The  great  want,  which  they  especially  feel,  is  that 
of  more  laborers. 

"  Affectionately  your  friend, 

"JAMES  MAY." 

"LANCASTER,  May  20,  '58. 
"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

"  Your  last  letter  addressed  to  me  here  I  received  a  few  days  ago. 
Providence  favoring,  I  shall  leave  this  to-morrow,  and  be  at  the 
Seminary  next  day.  I  should  have  been  there  this  week,  but  that 
Dr.  Sparrow  wrote  me  my  classes  would  be  broken  up  by  the  large 
portion  going  to  the  Virginia  Convention  at  Winchester.  I  re 
ceived  to-day  a  very  well  written  article  for  the  '  Review'  from  the 
Rev.  W.  M.  Pendleton  of  Lexington,  Va.,  on  the  '  Ancient  races 
of  Men/  I  had  had  no  intimation  of  his  wish  to  write  it,  till  I 
received  it  this  morning.  I  shall  send  it  to  Dr.  Dyer  to  be  ready 
in  case  of  need  to  fill  up  the  July  number.  If  not  needed,  it  can 
lie  over.  What  prospect  or  plan  for  contributions,  for  the  next 
number,  after  July,  can  you  present  ?  Can  you  not  engage  some 
proper  pens  in  our  service?  Could  we  not  have  an  article  on 
the  Modern  Theology  of  England  ?  I  mean  Maurice's,  Kingsley's, 
Jowett's,  etc.  Then  you  could  give  us  besides  that  a  review  of 
Dickens,  Currer  Bell,  Thackeray,  etc.  Be  pleased  to  write  me 
at  the  Seminary.  I  am  in  communication  with  no  one  who  can 
give  me  news.  My  time  is  spent  in  Mrs.  May's  chamber.  By 
the  good  Hand  of  God,  she  has  respite  from  suffering  and  has 
been  able,  after  being  carried  to  a  vehicle,  to  ride  a  mile  or  two. 
Though  I  get  no  news,  I  suppose  Dr.  Vinton  or  Dr.  Bedell  will 
be  appointed  Bishop.  I  wish  I  could  slip  out  to  see  you  at 
Gambier  for  a  while,  but  now  my  duties  at  the  Seminary  will  be 
doubled  and  trebled  to  the  end  of  our  term.  My  love  to  Brother 
Griffin.  Mrs.  May  desires  kindest  regards  to  you  and  to  him  also. 

"  Yr.  affectionate  friend, 

"JAMES  MAY." 

"THEOL.  SEM.,  June  4,  '58. 
"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

"Your  letter  having  in  the  same  envelope  a  letter  to  Bishop 
Bowman  reached  me  this  evening.     You  have  done  no  more  than 


64  MEMOIR   OF 

an  honest  and  candid  man  should  do.  I  highly  approve  of  your 
letter  to  him.  The  election  took  me  entirely  by  surprise.  I  had 
expected  a  majority  on  the  first  ballot  for  Dr.  Vinton  of  twenty- 
five  or  thirty.  The  Lord's  ways  are  not  our  ways.  We  may  have 
been  relying  too  much  on  the  wisdom  of  man.  Evangelical  religion 
has  not  often  been  in  power  by  means  of  majorities,  and  perhaps 
has  been  generally  weakened  when  it  has  been.  Its  power  lies  in 
the  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God  and  prayer.  A  free  pulpit,  a 
free  press,  and  free  access  to  God  in  prayer  cannot  be  taken  away. 
I  think  we  are  called  on  to  be  more  distinct,  more  decided,  and 
more  earnest  in  preaching  the  Gospel.  We  must  rely  less  on  the 
world,  and  be  more  simple  in  faith.  If  I  could  see  you  for  some 
private  conversation  I  might  have  some  things  to  say.  I  shall  be 
glad  to  be  more '  closely  associated  with  you  in  holding  forth  the 
truth  through  the  Press.  Do  you  move  the  '  Recorder,'  and  I 
would  I  could  efficiently  aid  in  moving  the  '  Review.'  I  do  long 
to  have  the  Gospel  more  distinctly  and  more  earnestly  preached.  I 
hear  much  preaching,  even  from  men  reported  to  be  evangelical, 
which  as  I  look  at  the  matter,  is  very  defective.  It  is  good  as  far 
as  it  goes,  but  it  comes  short  of  a  full  and  faithful  exhibition  of  the 
Gospel.  God  will  not  peculiarly  bless  anything  but  his  own  word, 
simply  and  faithfully  preached.  I  have  been  tried,  sorely  tried  in 
the  suffering  which  it  has  pleased  the  Lord  to  send  on  my  wife, 
but  I  trust  good  will  come  of  it,  in  making  the  Gospel  more  pre 
cious.  She  is  better,  but  still  very  weak.  Hold  you  to  the  ( Recor 
der.'  You  know  how  to  be  faithful  and  honest,  and  at  the  same 
time  courteous.  You  have,  in  that  paper,  the  means  of  immeasur 
able  power,  but  you  need  no  testimony  on  that  point.  We  need 
now  and  then  some  lesson  of  humility  and  dependence  on  God. 
The  Lord  will  show  us  it  is  not  by  might  nor  by  power  that  he 
builds  up  His  Kingdom.  If  we  become  more  humble  and  faithful, 
honor  and  exalt  more  and  more  his  Word  and  Holy  Spirit,  we  may 
look  for  more  proofs  of  His  favor. 

"  Your  affectionate  friend, 

"JAMES  MAY." 

The  election  referred  to  in  this  letter  was  that  of  Assistant  Bishop 
of  Pennsylvania.  The  enclosed  letter  referred  to  was  one  written 
to  Bishop  Bowman  upon  his  election,  and  is  as  follows : 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  65 

TO  THE  RT.  REV.  BISHOP  BOWMAN. 

"GAMBIER,  May  29,  1858. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

"  I  have  just  seen,  in  the  Cincinnati  paper  of  this  morning,  the 
announcement  of  your  election  as  Assistant  Bishop.  I  cannot  but 
congratulate  you  personally  and  express  my  gratification  that  since 
the  election  has  not  fallen  on  one  belonging  to  the  school  to  which 
I  have  been  peculiarly  attached,  and  to  which  I  owe  all  my  relig 
ious  training,  it  has  fallen  on  one  so  just  and  liberal  as  yourself. 
Had  I  been  in  the  convention,  I  would  have  felt  bound  to  cast  my 
vote  with  those  with  whom  my  ecclesiastical  associations  have  been 
most  close ;  as  it  is  I  will  be  one  of  the  first  and  most  cheerful  in 
acquiescing.  But  I  cannot  forbear  in  once  more  laying  before  you 
my  earnest  conviction  of  the  paramount  necessity  of  toleration  in 
the  choice  of  ecclesiastical  mechanism,  whether  missionary  or  other 
wise.  You  are  about  to  assume  the  leading  position, — second  only 
to  one  whom  we  all  pray  God  may  long  continue  but  whose  failing 
health  admonishes  us  of  the  precarious  tenure  we  all  have  in  his 
labors, — in  a  diocese  in  which  I  will  probably  never  again  reside, 
but  in  whose  concerns  I  have  for  some  years  taken  a  most  interested 
part.  I  firmly  believe  that  any  attempt  to  coerce  uniformity  in 
Pennsylvania  for  either  school  would  be  attended  with  the  most 
disastrous  consequences  both  to  our  prosperity  and  peace, — I  believe 
that  the  unexampled  prosperity  of  the  last  ten  years  is  owing  to 
such  toleration  havin'g  been  allowed.  I  cannot  but  say  this  to  you, 
speaking  as  one  who  greatly  loves  Pennsylvania  and  the  church  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  speaking  to  one  who  in  future  will  have  such 
great  power  for  the  common  good. 

"  It  may  not  be  improper  for  me  to  add  that  I  continue  to  be 
responsible  for  the  general  management  of  the  '  Recorder/  so  far 
as  its  literary  and  theological  departments  are  concerned.  My 
distance  prevents  me  from  taking  any  active  controversial — or 
local  part  in  its  management.  I  can  only  say  that  while  I  con 
tinue  to  have  control  of  the  paper,  however  much  you  may  have 
occasion  to  dissent  from  its  course  in  matters  of  general  polity,  you 
will  always  find  it  yielding  to  you  that  personal  and  affectionate 
respect  which  has  always  been  felt  by  me  towards  you. 

"  Yrs.  sincerely, 

"FRANCIS  WHARTON. 

5 


66  MEMOIR   OF 

"  I  hope  that  you  will  pay  us  a  visit  at  Gambier.  We  have 
twenty  Penna.  students,  most  of  them  looking  forward  to  the 
Ministry.  I  should  be  delighted  to  have  you  as  a  guest  at  my 
house." 

To  this  letter  we  give  Bishop  Bowman's  reply : 

"LANCASTER,  June  4th,  '58. 
"  F.  WHARTON,  ESQ., 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  letter  was  very  kind  and  acceptable, 
hardly  the  less  so  coming  from  a  theological  opponent.  Where 
such  opposition  is  frankly  avowed,  as  in  your  case,  and  where  it  is 
not  felt  that  differences  should  'produce  dissensions  and  quarrels, 
I  can  see  but  little  evil  in  those  diversities  which  must  ever  exist 
among  men,  at  least  as  long  as  they  do  not  transcend  the  liberty 
which  the  Church  allows  us.  It  was  the  fault  of  the  Church  of 
Kome,  in  going  beyond  what  was  written,  and  attempting  to  define 
the  mode  of  Christ's  presence  in  the  blessed  Sacrament  that  gave 
rise  to  an  agitation  and  a  controversy  that  a  thousand  years  have 
not  been  able  to  settle.  I  am  for  the  largest  liberty  which  the 
Church  allows.  I  suppose  you  ask  no  more,  and  that  you  do  not 
think  it  a  Christian  duty  to  break  terms  with  me,  because  we 
cannot  on  every  point,  entirely  agree.  I  am  at  a  loss  therefore  to 
understand  your  zealous  advocacy  of  separate  missionary  and  other 
organizations.  The  mischief  of  division  and  the  advantages  of  union 
are,  to  my  mind  such  self-evident  truths,  that  I  am  perplexed  when 
I  hear  so  conciliatory  and  sensible  a  man  as  yourself,  apparently 
advocating  divided  action,  on  the  grounds  of  expediency  and  prin 
ciple.  I  wish  to  see  all  hearts  in  sympathy,  and  all  hands  joined 
in  action,  and  on  a  ground  of  perfect  equality.  Or,  if  either  side 
or  school  gain  pre-eminence  in  our  voluntary  agencies  by  superior 
zeal  or  liberality,  let  them  enjoy  and  use  it.  '  Ferat  qui  meruit 
palmam.'  But  for  decency's  sake,  for  the  sake  of  our  common 
Mother  the  Church,  for  the  sake  of  Him  who  purchased  that  Church 
with  His  own  Blood,  let  us  not  present  to  the  world,  the  aspect  of 
a  divided  house,  the  hideous  spectacle  of  brethren  wasting  on  each 
other's  overthrow  that  zeal  which  ought  only  to  be  expended  against 
the  common  foe.  But  I  gladly  quit  the  ungrateful  theme,  with  the 
assurance,  my  dear  Mr.  Wharton,  that  however  we  may  differ  in 
questions  of  policy  and  expediency,  or  even  of  theological  doctrine, 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  67 

we  shall  never  be  found  arrayed  against  each  other  in  an  un- 
brotherly  strife.  Regretting  to  hear  you  say,  that  you  are  not  likely 
again  to  be  a  resident  of  the  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania,  and  sincerely 
hoping,  that  whatever  future  intercourse  Providence  may  permit 
between  us  may  be  as  pleasant  and  cordial  as  the  past  has  been,  I 
remain,  my  dear  Mr.  Wharton,  with  sincere  and  unabated  regard, 

"  Your  friend, 

"  SAMUEL  BOWMAN." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  so  few  of  Dr.  Wharton's  own  letters 
can  be  found  to  give  to  this  Memorial.  He  wrote  and  constantly 
to  many  correspondents,  but  as  his  letters  were  generally  for  a  pur 
pose,  they  were  confined  to  that  purpose,  and  were  brief  and  to  the 
point.  They  have  probably  not  been  preserved.  His  letters  to 
his  family  wrere,  though  most  loving  and  affectionate,  full  of  local 
and  humorous  allusions,  which  would  only  be  appreciated  by  those 
who  received  them.  Writing,  as  he  did,  so  much  for  the  press,  his 
letters  were  his  relaxation,  and  he  very  rarely  touched  on  topics  of 
general  interest.  A  few  have,  however,  been  selected  for  publica 
tion,  though  their  dates  will  carry  us  back  some  years. 

TO  MRS.  CHARLES  SINKLER  (HIS  SISTER). 

PHIL.,  DEC.   13,   1851. 
"  MY  DEAR  EMILY  : 

a  I  am  now  sitting  out  a  long  speech  of  my  colleague,  Judge 
Champneys,  in  the  distribution  of  the  funds  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States — a  matter  you  may  recollect  I  have  had  in  hand 
several  years.  Our  first  step,  you  know,  was  to  get  a  judgment  for 
over  a  million  of  dollars.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  judgment 
was  against  the  bank  herself.  As  she  is  now  entirely  insolvent,  our 
next  step  was  to  attach  the  property  she  has  assigned  to  trustees 
for  the  payment  of  certain  debts.  It  is  in  this  work  we  are  now 
engaged.  If  we  succeed  now,  we  get  pretty  large  fees.  So  you  see 
we  have  something  more  at  stake  than  mere  glory.  We  have  now 
been  engaged  in  arguing  the  question  for  three  evenings  a  week  for 
nearly  three  weeks.  I  began  as  the  junior  counsel  for  the  State, 
and  was  followed  by  George  Wharton,  Mr.  Cadwalader,  and  Mr. 
Williams,  for  the  trustees.  We  are  now  winding  up  the  discussion 
with  an  elaborate  speech  from  Judge  Champneys.  As  I  have  got 


68  MEMOIR   OF 

t 

through  my  part,  I  am  DOW,  under  the  semblance  of  taking  notes, 
writing  you  a  letter.  If  you  find  the  letter  somewhat  disconnected, 
you  must  charge  it  to  the  speech.  If  Judge  Champneys  endeavors 
to  prove  my  recollection  of  his  speech,  I  am  afraid  he  will  find  that 
recollection  very  much  affected  by  the  notions  I  am  putting  in  this 
letter. 

"  I  did  get  your  letter  about  Robert,  and  I  believe  I  furnished  you 
with  his  right  direction.  In  considering  whether  it  reached  him 
or  not,  please  consider  (1)  that  Robert  has  been  on  a  long  journey, 
and  (2)  that  I  have  a  faint  recollection  that  he  told  me  when  in 
Philadelphia  he  had  heard  from  you,  and  asked-  me  to  reply 
that  he  had  answered  you.  He  looked  very  gallant  and  high- 
spirited,  and  as  if  he  would  enjoy  nothing  better  than  soaring  up 
in  a  balloon  and  dropping  down  at  Woodford  ! 

"I  will  send  with  this  one  or  two  Church  papers,  wrhich  will 
give  you  some  idea  how  we  are  getting  on  in  religious  matters. 
Mr.  Dalrymple  (this  is  the  last  piece  of  news  wThich  is  particularly 
for  Wharton)  is  going  not  only  to  be  a  clergyman,  but  an  Epis 
copal  clergyman,  and  goes  to  Alexandria  in  a  few  weeks.  So  there 
is  even  a  chance  of  his  being  a  Southern  minister,  and  giving 
Wharton  a  chance  of  hearing  him  preach. 

"  I  am  afraid  St.  Jude's  comes  on  but  poorly.  I  should  not  be 
surprised  if  Mr.  Miller  resigned  in  the  course  of  a  couple  of  months. 
The  pews  are  no  more  filled  up  than  they  were  on  the  first  month, 
and  there  seems  no  chance  of  their  being  so  under  the  present 
administration.  I  have  a  plan  which  in  the  case  of  there  being  a 
clear  field  I  think  may  be  executed.  It  is  to  have  our  old  friend 
Minnegerode,  who  is  one  of  the  most  eloquent  preachers  in  Virginia, 
to  preach  both  in  English  and  in  German — the  latter  in  the  even 
ing.  You  know  the  Prayer-book  has  been  translated  into  German, 
and  yet,  though  we  have  50,000  Germans  in  Philadelphia,  we 
have  no  Episcopal  German  service. 

"  Kossuth's  New  York  dinner  speech  is  the  subject — I  don't  want 
to  use  a  superlative — of  intense  surprise  and  admiration.  Since 
Peter  the  Hermit  no  political  orator  has  ever  spoken  so.  He  says, 
when  asked  how  he  acquired  the  English  language, — that  he  can't 
tell, — that  it  seems  almost  inspiration.  I  believe  the  feeling  here 
is  that  history  does  not  give  another  instance  like  this  where  a 
foreigner  made  such  a  speech,  both  as  to  language  and  material. 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  69 

Mother  has  become  a  vehement  Hungarian  ;  and  you  can  receive 
as  some  proof  of  this  the  fact  that  she  listens,  not  only  patiently 
but  delightedly,  as  Henry  reads  seven  columns  of  his  speech  con 
secutively. 

"  Ever  yours, 

«F.  W." 

% 

TO  CHARLES  SINKLER,  ESQ. 

"PHILADELPHIA,  Mch.  7,  '52. 
"  MY  DEAR  CHARLES  : 

"  This  is  «ny  birthday,  but  unfortunately  it  is  the  first  Sunday 
for  several  years  that  I  have  been  detained  in  the  house.  I  caught 
a  heavy  cold  a  few  days  ago,  and  having  in  vain  tried  all  other 
remedies,  last  night,  much  against  the  wishes  of  the  family,  I  took 
hold  of  your  remedy, — viz. — hot  water  and  hot  tea,  helped  on  by 
a  Dover's  powder.  Of  course  I  had  to  be  hermetically  sealed  all 
day ;  but  under  the  united  influence  of  the  three  applications,  I  am 
getting  quite  well,  and  to-morrow  shall  be  able  to  go  to  work  as 
vigorously  as  ever. — I  send  you  a  circular  of  a  new  reading-room 
in  which  I  am  very  much  interested,  and  which  we  are  about 
to  open  only  a  door  or  two  below  our  house.  I  think  you  will 
enjoy  it  when  you  come  on,  as  you  certainly  are  going  to  do  this 
spring.  Aside  from  the  religious  newspapers  which  are  the  most 
questionable  of  its  receipts,  it  will  have  on  its  tables  all  the  prac 
tical  foreign  religious  papers,  and  the  current  new  books  of  the 
day. — But  I  think  the  feature  which  is  the  most  beneficial  is  that 
you  will  observe  in  the  circular,  which  provides  for  a  series  of  visit 
ing  committees  who  will  visit  such  young  men  as  are  strange  in  the 
city,  connected  with  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  will  provide  for 
them  suitable  boarding-houses,  church  accommodation,  etc.  I  con 
sider  these  features  likely  to  produce  immense  practical  good ;  and 
the  more  so  when  you  observe  that  the  board  of  managers  are 
almost  entirely  what  may  be  called  '  evangelical/ — If  it  were  not 
that  I  would  be  afraid  the  term  would  be  unpopular  with  you,  I 
would  say  '  low  church/  by  which  I  mean  a  decided  antagonism 

to  ,  or  worldly  old  school  Episcopalianism,  for  which  you 

know  I  have  a  cordial  detestation. 

"  I  think  I  wrote  to  Emily  that  D.,  who  you  took  some  interest 
in,  left  me  some  weeks  ago  for  the  Alexandria  Seminary.  He 


70  MEMOIR   OF 

staggered  so  much  at  the  Westminster  Confession  that  he  at  the 
last  moment  gave  up  Presbyterian  ism,  and  I  think  will  be  an 
ornament  to  our  church,  both  from  his  piety  and  talents. 

"  H.  has  been  in  town  for  some  time,  and  says  he  has  written  a 
full  letter  to  you,  explaining  how  his  first  miscarried.  From  the 
impression  on  his  mind  as  to  your  direction,  I  should  not  wonder 
if  the  second  went  after  the  first. 

"  Mother  remains  really  about  stationary.  She  is  in  excellent 
spirits,  however,  and  looks  wonderfully.  Henry  is  well.  Give 
my  love  to  Emily,  Wharton  (my  boy)  and  Lizzy,  and  believe  me 
yours  ever.  * 

"F.  W." 

"PniL.,  Dec.  15,  1855. 
"  MY  DEAR  EMILY  : 

"  Your  very  acceptable  letters  with  the  enclosed  extracts  for  the 
'  Recorder'  have  duly  arrived.  As  you  probably  have  already  seen 
in  the  i  Recorder/  the  ( Scripture  Florist'  (if  I  have  its  name  right) 
has  already  begun  to  make  its  appearance.  One  awkward  mistake 
came  near  happening  to  the  Lily,  which  emerged  from  the  printing- 
office  in  the  shape  of  Tilly.  I  believe  it  was  Mary's  investigating 
eye  which  discovered  the  discrepancy  and  led  to  its  correction. 

"  It  is  out  of  the  question  for  me  to  go  to  the  South  this  winter. 
...  I  have  gone  into  one  or  two  extravagances  lately  in  the  shape 
of  a  chandelier  and  a  grate  in  the  library.  The  room  is  now  almost 
the  perfection  of  comfort. — I  cannot  always  send  you  the  '  Banner.' 
It  often  gets  hooked  off  from  my  office,  and  sometimes  is  cut  up. 
The  '  Churchman'  and  the  '  P.  Churchman'  are  I  suppose  the  next 
most  entertaining.  The  '  Southern  Churchman'  I  think  is  the 
best,  but  I  generally  make  so  many  incisions  into  it  as  to  make  its 
remains  scarcely  worth  having. 

"  I  have  written  to  Bishop  Elliott  (who  is  to  be  here  in  April) 
to  stay  with  me,  and  I  propose  to  ask  all  the  South  Carolina  dele 
gation  (out  of  compliment  to  Charles),  to  come  to  my  house  at  the 
General  Convention  in  October.  Why  will  not  Charles  get  elected 
a  delegate  from  South  Carolina  himself?  I  hope  you  will  make  a 
point  of  being  in  the  city  at  that  period,  as  there  will  be  a  great 
deal  that  will  improve  as  well  as  amuse.  I  want  you  to  spend  the 
first  half  of  your  visit  with  me  in  the  fall.  I  mean  August  and 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  71 

September  down  to  October  10.  Then  the  S.  C.  delegation  will 
come.  I  want  you  to  pick  out  which  would  be  the  pleasantest,  and 
invite  them  at  your  convention  for  me.  I  expect  Mr.  Reed  and 
Mr.  Shaw,  if  the  latter  comes,  which  I  hope  he  will,  as  I  have  had 
a  very  pleasant  correspondence  with  him. 

"  George  desires  me  to  say  that  he  is  quite  an  example,  being  now 
engaged  in-  copying  a  very  heavy  extract  for  the  '  Recorder/ 
"  Give  my  best  love  to  Charles  and  the  children. 

"F.  W." 

"GAMBIER,  Nov.  14,  1857. 
"  MY  DEAR  EMILY  : 

"  I  have  just  got  home  from  a  country  school  in  which,  in  con 
nection  with  one  of  the  theological  students,  I  have  been  holding 
services  and  '  preaching7  all  day  long.  -I  am  now  fairly  settled 
here  for  the  fall  term  ;  and  indeed  I  am  very  glad  to  have  escaped 
the  turmoil  and  excitement  of  city  life  at  such  a  time  as  this.  I  do 
not  think  things  ever  looked  so  badly.  The  foundations  of  charac 
ter  seem  to  be  shaken.  I  was  not  so  much  shocked  at  P.'s  defalca 
tion,  for  I  had  known  but  little  of  him.  .  .  .  I  had  a  letter  from 
C.  P.  on  Wednesday,  and  another  from  mother  yesterday. 

"  I  have  lent  the  college  $3000  on  mortgage  on  a  piece  of  land 
belonging  to  them,  and  they  are  putting  up  a  house  for  me  to 
occupy  as  long  as  I  continue  to  lecture  here.  The  situation  is 
beautiful,  being  very  much  like  John  Bohlens',  only  there  is  a 
river  flowing  at  the  foot.  The  house  is  a  plain  one — three  stories 
high  in  front,  and  two  behind,  with  attics.  On  the  first  floor  is 
the  dining-room  and  kitchen.  Over  this  are  a  parlor  and  a  study, 
with  a  large  hall.  There  are  four  chambers  above,  and  two  over 
that.  The  portico  runs  on  three  sides  of  the  house.  There  is  a 
balcony  on  the  second  story.  The  house  will  be  ready  by  the 
middle  of  April,  and  I  hope  to  move  out  the  great  body  of  my 
furniture  then.  I  do  trust  you  will  be  persuaded  to  spend  next 
summer  here.  There  never  was  such  healthy  mountain  air,  or 
such  a  place  for  children.  I  keep  two  horses  and  a  carriage,  and 
will  buy  a  horse  for  Wharton  if  you  come  on.  I  have  just  super 
intended  putting  up  a  stable  with  three  stalls  for  the  horses,  and 
stalls  for  two  cows  for  the  children.  1  have  also  an  uncommonly 


72  MEMOIR   OF 

fine  setter-pup  (called  '  Mill-Creek/  in  compliment  to  one  of  Mr. 
B.'s  parishes),  raising  for  the  boys.  I  cannot  see  how  you  can 
hesitate  about  coming. 

"  With  love,  ever  yr's, 

"F.  W." 

/ 

"GAMBIER,  1858. 
"  MY  DEAR  EMILY  : 

"  Above  you  will  find  a  picture  of  our  new  building  (Ascension 
Hall),  which  I  hope  will  meet  with  your  approbation.  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  however,  that  it  will  not  be  done  in  time  for  your  visit, 
though  before  you  are  even  to  think  about  leaving,  it  will  present 
quite  a  considerable  front.  I  am  happy  to  announce  that  notwith 
standing  all  our  fears  to  the  contrary,  we  have  just  had  a  snap  of 
cold  weather  which  will  enable  my  ice-house  to  be  filled.  So  you 
may  congratulate  yourselves  on  having  ice  ad  libitum. 

"  The  house  is  almost  finished.  It  is  entirely  plastered,  with  the 
exception  of  the  final  coating  on  the  dining-room  and  kitchen. 
The  rooms  are  very  much  the  size  of  the  rooms  in  my  Spruce 
Street  house,  with  the  exception  that  my  dining-room  is  not  quite 
as  large  as  that  in  Phi  la.  I  have  two  parlors  with  folding  doors. 
The  back  one  is  to  be  a  library,  and  turns  out  to  be  exactly  the 
size  of  my  library  in  Phila.  It  is  to  have  the  same  carpet.  The 
bedrooms  are  to  have  the  same  furniture  as  in  Phila.  I  have  a 
sweet  little  room  for  Lizzie.  Since  I  have  been  certain  of  your 
coming,  I  have  made  one  or  two  improvements,  including  a  com 
fortable  room  for  Wharton,  and  for  Henry  S ,  if  his  mother 

would  let  him  come,  at  which  I  should  be  much  gratified. — You 
will  be  greatly  pleased  with  my  library.  It  has  nearly  doubled 
since  you  saw  it.  All  the  '  Recorder'  things  come  regularly  out  to 
me,  so  you  will  have  abundance  of  light  as  well  as  grave  reading. 

"  So  far  as  teaching  is  concerned  you  will  have  no  difficulty,  as 
that  is  the  great  staple  of  the  '  Hill.'  I  have  just  heard  that  Mr. 
Granert,  the  German  and  French  professor,  and  a  graduate  of 
Heidelberg, — he  teaches  piano  besides, — will  reside  here  during 
the  summer.  There  is  a  capital  boys'  school,  in  which  the  vaca 
tion  does  not  begin  until  Sept.  20th,  and  private  tutors  very  cheap. 
What  do  you  think  of  two  hours  a  day  for  $8  a  month  ? 

"  Your  coming  is  looked  forward  to  with  great  interest.    I  think 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  73 

it  was  the  settling  influence  with  Elizabeth  and  probably  Eliza. 
As  to  my  man-servant  you  will  find  him  quite  a  character.  He  is 
English, — severely  pious,— .writes  a  capital  hand,  and  ponders 
over  all  sorts  of  theological  books, — but  at  the  same  time  is 
greatly  hipped  and  pensive.  Still  he  gets  through  a  great  deal 

more  than  Mrs. 's  John,  and  almost  as  much  as  Daddy  Henry 

or  'Ca  Robin.*  He  tends  the  mares,  whose  friskiness  gives  him 
no  little  trouble,  one  of  them  having  a  way  of  waltzing  round  him 
as  he  leads  the  other  to  water,  making  him  look  very  ridiculous ; 
he  makes  the  beds  in  my  present  rooms,  trims  the  lamps,  and 
sweeps  the  rooms  with  a  little  shovel  not  much  bigger  than  a  large 
spoon;  he  cleans  the  dishes,  for  I  always  have  tea  in  my  rooms; 
acts  as  deputy  sexton  in  getting  the  basement  ready  for  the  Bible 
class;  drives  the  carriage;  and  is  now  engaged  in  hauling  ice. 
You  can  see  what  an  important  person  he  is  to  be  in  our  future 
household. 

"  With  a  great  deal  of  love  to  Charles  and  the  children,  ever 

yours, 

"F.  W." 

"GAMBIER,  Mch.  24,  1858. 

"MY  DEAR  EMILY: 

"  It  may  amuse  you  to  glance  over  a  duplicate  of  an  order  for 
flowers,  etc.,  which  I  have  just  sent  for  to  help  make  the  place  look 
cheerful  by  the  time  you  arrive.  They  form  only  a  portion  of 
what  I  have  ordered,  and  I  think  on  your  arrival  you  will  find 
things  just  in  that  condition  which  will  involve  all  the  taste  that 
you  and  Lizzy  can  spare.  Your  own  room  has  a  porch  and 
balustrade  in  front  of  it,  and  looks  down  directly  on  the  hill 
side.  As  for  a  nursery  I  have  a  grand  one.  It  is  a  large  and  very 
airy  room  in  the  third  story,  and  is  to  be  fitted  up  in  the  most  solid 
of  ways — heavy  oak  bedstead,  etc. — I  think  you  will  really  be  de 
lighted  with  the  place.  What  do  you  think  of  having  ice-cream 
every  other  day  ?  Among  other  of  Thomas'  (our  Sancho  Panzas) 
accomplishments,  he  is  a  great  ice-cream  freezer.  He  is  now  at 
work  gardening,  cutting  away  branches  that  intercept  the  view. 

"  I  gave  my  farewell  lecture  to  the  Bible  Class  Sunday  evening 

[*  Servants  of  Mrs.  Sinkler's.] 


74  MEMOIR   OF 

before  last.  The  spacious  chapel,  much  larger  than  the  Phila. 
lecture  rooms,  was  jammed,  and  the  window-sills  and-  floors  were 
occupied.  I  hope  to  favor  you  with  one  or  two  in  the  summer. 

"  We  have  a  new  rector  and  a  very  agreeable  one — Mr.  Cracraft. 
He  is  a  very  striking  preacher  and  an  extremely  pleasant  man.  I 
think  you  will  in  several  respects  be  agreeably  surprised  with  the 
condition  of  things  here. 

"  With  best  love  ever  yr's, 

"F.  W." 

"GiLMORE  HOUSE,  Baltimore,  Dec.  17,  185  .. 

"  MY  DEAR  EMILY  : 

"  I  arrived  here  this  morning  after  a  nearly  two  days  and  two 
nights  journey  across  the  mountains,  prolonged  by  a  detention  at 
Wheeling  which  broke  the  connection.  I  found  a  note  from 
mother,  enclosing  one  to  you,  which  I  forward.  G.  comes  with 
me  to  the  East,  and  proceeds  to  Phila.  for  a  day  or  two  on  his 
way  home.  I  fear  his  health  is  seriously  impaired.  His  symp 
toms  are  very  distressing,  at  least  to  my  eyes,  and  he  has  agreed  to 
take  Dr.  Pepper's  advice  before  returning  to  Salem.  My  fears  are 
quite  serious  of  his  having  permanently  broken  down.  It  struck 
me  that  in  case  of  the  doctors  recommending  him  to  give  up  study 
he  might  visit  you  at  Belvidere. 

"  I  shall  await  with  much  pleasure  the  arrival  of  the  boys.  I 
have  concluded  to  give  them  '  Fort  Tip/  to  which  I  have  had  a 
chimney  and  stove  added.  This  they  can  study  in,  and  can  take 
greater  liberties  there  than  in  the  house  proper. 

"  One  thing  alone  about  the  boys  gives  me  any  anxiety.  I  am 
willing  to  be  responsible  for  them  at  their  meals  and  the  nights 
and  evenings.  As  to  their  games,  etc.,  I  know  you  will  relieve  me 
on  that  point.  Were  they  my  own  children  I  would  desire  to  put 
them  just  on  the  line  of  Dr.  B.'s  boys — start  them  with  skates  and 
sleds,  and  let  them  take  their  chances,  or  rather,  trust  to  Providence, 
only  insisting  that  they  were  in  at  meals  and  study  hours.  My 
fear  is  unless  Charles,  A.,  and  yourself  take  this  view,  I  will  keep 
both  the  boys  and  myself  in  a  continual  fret. 

"  Tell  A.  I  am  delighted  to  have  Henry.  I  can  manage  two 
boys  better  than  one. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  75 

"  If  Mr.  C.  leaves  Gambler,  as  I  suppose  he  will,  I  apprehend 
Dr.  Butler  will  come. 

"  With  love  to  Charles  and  the  children. 

"  Ever  yours, 

"F.  W." 

In  the  Spring  of  1859,  a  failure  of  health  and  some  slight 
throat  trouble  made  a  change  necessary.  He  took  passage  in  the 
French  Steamer  Fulton  for  a  trip  to  Europe,  intending  to  be  absent 
six  months.  Of  this  trip  only  a  few  private  letters  have  been 
preserved,  but  as  he  wrote  from  time  to  time  to  the  '  Recorder/  we 
have  a  tolerably  full  account  of  his  life  and  impressions  there. 
Before  we  close  this  chapter,  however,  a  couple  of  Editorials  have 
been  taken  quite  at  random  from  that  paper  to  show  the  kind  of 
matter  he  was  in  the  habit  of  furnishing  from  his  own  pen,  in 
review  of  matters  both  in  Church  and  State.  If  it  were  desirable, 
a  volume  could  be  collected  from  these  old  files,  and  it  would  prove 
doubtless  a  surprise  to  those  who  are  familiar  with  Dr.  Wharton, 
chiefly  as  a  legal  writer  to  know  how  much  he  has  also  contributed 
to  the  controversies  of  the  Epis.  Church,  and  the  cause  of  literature. 

ENGLISH  OR  RUSSIAN? 

"  Some  weeks  since  we  adverted  to  the  religious  bearings  of  the 
present  Eastern  war.  We  cannot  regard  its  civil  bearings  as  tend 
ing  to  an  opposite  result.  To  a  sound  mind,  indeed,  the  civil  or 
the  religious  interest  of  either  a  people  or  an  individual  must 
unite  in  one  point.  True  Christianity  will  necessarily  generate  the 
highest  degree  of  personal  freedom  consistent  with  civil  govern 
ment.  It  will  produce,  also,  to  the  very  extent  to  which  its  influ 
ence  is  exhibited,  the  qualities  of  industry,  honesty,  fidelity  to  the 
claims  of  others,  respect  for  their  rights,  and  tenderness  for  their 
feelings.  Just  as  far  as  positive  evangelical  religion  has  advanced, 
just  so  far  have  the  education,  the  industrial  capabilities,  the  indi 
vidual  liberties,  and  the  national  grandeur  of  a  people  been  advanced. 
And  the  converse,  also,  is  true.  A  vigorous  and  enlightened  religion 
cannot  survive  in  a  despotism  except  in  the  dungeon  of  the  captive, 
or  by  the  stake  of  the  martyr.  Government  can  persecute  it,  but 
cannot  fondle  it  into  power.  It  wants  no  state  endowments.  The 


76  MEMOIR   OF 

moment  the  minister  is  endowed,  he  is  crippled.  To  the  degree 
that  he  is  aided  by  civil  authority  he  loses  in  spiritual  influence. 
If  we  could  have  now  a  government  which  would  take  up  the  form 
of  religion  which  we  now  hold  most  dear, — which  would  establish 
it,  for  instance  in  Turkey,  and  would  provide  a  sufficient  ministe 
rial  salary  to  every  clergyman  who  should  be  willing  to  accept  it, 
we  would  advise  its  rejection.  Not  that  it  is  not  likely  that  such 
a  call  would  be  inoperative.  It  would  have  a  wondrous  effect  on 
Church  comprehension,  and  would  tend  to  extend  Episcopal  orders 
to  a  class  whose  numbers,  at  least,  we  fear  would  overtop  very 
largely  the  accessions  likely  to  be  produced  by  the  most  liberal 
gratuitous  system  of  Church  extension  that  could  be  devised  else 
where.  Each  stipend  would  be  readily  adopted.  Episcopal  orders 
would  be  accepted,  and  the  required  interpretations  of  our  standards 
professed.  We  have  recently  been  told  of  a  convert  from  another 
denomination, — one  of  that  class  who  leaves  because  left, — who 
informed  the  hesitating  examiner  that  he  was  a  Hobart-Griswold 
churchman.  In  the  economy  of  Divine  providence,  as  it  is  at 
present  exhibited  to  us,  there  is  always  a  class  of  unstable  men 
whose  capacities  are  incapable  of  either  definite  perceptions  or 
energetic  action,  who  will  turn  the  current  of  their  religious-senti 
mental  affections  into  any  ecclesiastical  channc-1,  that  could  lead 
them  through  the  fat  meadows  of  comfort  or  the  composing  scenery 
of  polite  and  respectable  mediocrity.  And  there  is  a  class  far  more 
capable  and  far  more  dangerous  than  this  who  will  seize  an  endowed 
ministry  with  a  rapacity  as  malign  as  the  prize  is  splendid,  and 
who  will  take  a  Hildebrand's  part  in  directing  that  ship  in  whose 
cushioned  cabins  repose  the  elegant  sentimentalist  and  the  luxuri 
ous  indiiferentist.  The  consequence  is  that  in  a  Church-state, — if 
not  in  a  state-Church — two  most  dangerous  elements  enter,  the  one 
of  which  by  controlling  the  other,  too  often  seizes  the  helm,  and 
ends  in  turning  overboard  whatever  elements  remain  that  may  be 
true  to  the  Gospel  system.  We  have  seen  this  in  Rome.  We  see 
it  in  Russia.  And  we  will  see  it  wherever  a  compulsory  faith  is 
attempted  to  be  enforced  by  a  governmental  clergy. 

"  The  object  being  toleration — or  in  other  words  freedom  of  con 
science  to  be  guaranteed  by  the  state  to  the  individual, — the  ques 
tion  next  arises  by  which  party  in  the  present  European  struggle 
will  this  great  sanction  be  most  likely  to  be  secured?  And  we 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  77 

cannot  for  a  moment  hesitate  here.  The  whole  Russian  system  is 
despotic.  Education  is  prohibited — Dissent  is  prohibited.  Even 
the  circulation  of  the  Bible  is  prohibited.  On  the  other  hand,  all 
the  great  safeguards  of  personal  and  religious  liberty  which  the 
world  now  knows,  take  their  origin  in  the  British  constitution. 
Thence  came  trial  by  jury, — freedom  of  the  press, — courts  of  Jus 
tice  open  to  th<e  poor, — the  right  of  habeas  corpus, — and  the  right 
to  worship  God  according  to  conscience.  Some  blemishes,  it  is 
true,  still  remain.  The  state  alliance  is  an  injury  to  both  state  and 
church.  The  House  of  Commons  is  on  the  one  side  too  imperfect 
a  reflection  of  the  people, — more  likely  as  it  now  stands  to  be 
influenced  by  a  suppositions  public  sentiment,  expressed  through 
the  press,  or  by  mob  meeting,  than  by  real  public  sentiment,' ex 
pressed  through  the  ballot-box, — and  on  the  other,  it  is  every  day 
less  and  less  held  in  check  by  the  vetoes, — now  almost  disused, — 
of  the  executive  and  the  senatorial  estates.  The  government  of 
England  fails  now  from  that  want  of  continuity  and  of  indepen 
dence  which  its  exposure  to  the  caprices  of  a  single  representative 
body  gives,  and  from  that  want  of  self-confidence  which  could  be 
strengthened  by  a  more  thorough  correspondence  between  the 
people  and  their  supposed  representatives.  It  fails,  also,  because  it 
is  unwilling  to  adopt  abroad  what  are  its  own  principles  at  home, 
and  to  make  that  which  is  a  matter  of  domestic  principle  a  matter 
of  foreign  policy.  It  fails  because  it  is  trying  to  turn  that  wrhich 
must  be  a  war  of  opinions,  into  a  war  of  interests,  and  to  postpone 
that  great  issue  which  it  provokes  and  yet  shrinks  from  when  it 
comes  near.  But  the  issue  must  come.  The  alliance  of  the  libera 
tor  must  be  with  the  oppressed  and  not  with  the  oppressor, — the 
alliance  of  the  grand  old  spirit  of  the  COMMON  LAW,  of  the  PRO 
TESTANT  FAITH, — of  the  ANGLO-SAXON  BLOOD, — must  be  with 
the  prisoners  of  the  Vatican  and  not  its  jailor — with  the  people  of 
Hungary  and  not  their  tyrants, — with  Poland,  and  not  with  those 
by  whom  Poland  is  crushed.  Come  then  that  day :  and  come 
when  it  may,  it  will  be  found  that  centuries  will  recede,  and  pure 
Christianity  will  again  be  seen  entering  the  straits  of  the  Dar- 
denelles,  and  lifting  up  its  hymns  on  those  hills  from  which  it  was 
driven  because  it  ceased  to  be  free,  and  which  only  when  free  again 
can  it  again  conquer." 


78  MEMOIR   OF 

"THE  CATHOLIC  WORK  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  IN 
AMERICA.  A  CONTRIBUTION  TO  THE  CAUSE  OF  THE  MEMORIAL.  BY 
A  PRESBYTER.  New  York  :  Printed  by  R.  Craighead,  53  Vesey  St.,  1855 

"  '  Better  Known,  More  Loved'  is  a  saying  that  was  very  touch- 
ingly  illustrated  by  a  sketch  given  by  us  in  our  paper  of  last  week 
of  the  attendance  by  the  bed-side  of  a  dying  Scotch  Fusileer, — a 
Covenanter,  of  a  Romish  sister  of  charity.  Propinquity,  it  has 
been  said,  makes  love,  and  it  is  equally  true  that  acquaintance 
kindles  charity.  There  may  be  some  who  will  read  these  lines, 
who  will  recollect  an  incident  in  the  life  of  one  of  our  most 
venerated  Bishops,  which  develops  this  very  forcibly.  He  had 
nourished  a  prejudice  against  '  Calvinism/ — a  system  which  he 
had  been  unconsciously  preaching  for  a  long  ministerial  life  with 
out  knowing  it, — which  had  led  him  to  look  with  some  reserve 
upon  a  most  eminent  and  eloquent  clergyman  of  another  diocese 
who  was  suspected  of  leaning  to  that  phase  of  doctrine.  It  so 
happened  that  a  revival  of  religion  occurred  in  their  common 
neighborhood,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  two — the  Anti-Calvinistic 
Bishop,  and  the  Calvinistic  Presbyter, — were  thrown  together.  It 
was  the  lot  of  the  latter  to  preach,  and  in  so  doing  he  developed 
as  he  supposed,  his  own  earnest  and  positive  system  of  faith  with 
all  his  peculiar  eloquence  and  fervor.  It  was  the  lot  of  the  aged 
Bishop  to  close  with  an  address,  bringing  home,  as  he  wras  accus 
tomed  to  do  with  such  wonderful  felicity  and  pathos,  the  truths 
which  the  sermon  had  developed.  He  did  so  in  the  present  case 
with  an  unction  and  beauty  which  showed  how  entirely  the  notes 
which  had  been  struck  awakened  a  response  in  his  own  heart. 
And  then  when  the  services  were  over,  he  grasped  by  the  hand  the 
preacher,  from  whom  he  had  so  long  been  alienated,  at  least  in 
name, — and  exclaimed,  ( My  brother,  we  believe  in  the  same  !' 

"  It  is  just  this  exclamation  we  feel  ready  to  address  now  to  many 
with  whose  earnest  and  loving  hearts  Dr.  MUHLENBERG'S  great 
movement  has  brought  us  in  contact.  Equally  with  us  they  are 
warmed  with  a  true  and  earnest  love  to  our  own  dear  Church. 
Equally  with  us  they  feel  that  by  her  must  be  chiefly  effected  the 
great  work  of  bringing  the  Gospel  in  contact  with  the  Anglo-Saxon 
people.  And  yet  equally  with  us,  they  feel  that  she  is  to  serve  as 
a  Mother,  as  well  as  to  reign  as  a  Queen — that  she  must  be  taught 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  79 

how  to  enter  the  hovels  as  well  as  to  preside  in  the  Court — and 
that  to  be  properly  loved  she  should  be  brought  home  to  the  heart 
of  every  man,  so  that  the  heart  of  every  man  can  be  brought  home 
to  her.  Our  Liturgy,  when  Cathedralized,  is  like, — if  we  can 
borrow  an  illustration  we  have  used  in  another  connection, — the 
Vicar  of  Wakefield's  family  picture  that,  when  the  young  ladies 
become  somewhat  ambitious,  it  was  determined  to  have  encased 
with  a  large  gilt  frame  as  big  again  as  itself.  It  was  found,  how 
ever,  that  the  picture,  which  formerly  readily  found  its  way  to  the 
mantle-piece,  now  could  not  get  through  the  door.  It  was  but  a 
cottage  door  it  is  true,  for  had  it  been  the  door  of  the  rich  or 
superb,  the  picture-frame  and  all  could  have  easily  got  in.  But 
though  a  cottage  door,  it  was  a  door  such  as  that  through  which 
alone  three-fourths  of  our  population  pass.  And  it  is  the  cottage 
door  of  the  world  that  the  Church  must  enter ;  and  it  is  to  the 
dimensions  of  that  cottage  door  she  should  be  reduced.  We  would 
keep  on  her  gilt  frame  for  Cathedral  service,  but  we  certainly  would 
not  cut  oif  those  to  whom  Cathedrals  are  inaccessible,  or  stated 
services  are  as  yet  unfamiliar,  from  the  benefits  of  our  Apostolic 
ministry  and  of  the  ultimate  use  of  that  PRAYER  BOOK  which  is 
the  first  of  all  uninspired  volumes,  and  next  to  the  Bible  and  a 
preached  Gospel,  the  greatest  instrumentality  we  possess  for  the 
conversion  of  the  world.  It  is  to  prevent  such  an  alienation, — to 
reconcile  the  Masses  to  the  Church  and  the  Church  to  the  Masses, 
— that  the  present  writer  as  well  as  ourselves  are  now  making 
common  cause. 

"  The  stand-point  from  which  the  author  views  the  subject  of  dis 
cussion  is  that  of  a  vigorous  though  genial  High-Churchmanship 
of  the  Hobart  grade.  In  what  way  the  present  condition  of  our 
communion  exhibits  itself  to  such  a  mind  is  vividly  told  in  the 
following  passage : 

"  '  That  worship  which  we  hold  dear  is  an  exotic,  transplanted 
from  English  soil,  but  never  thoroughly  grafted  into  the  wild  stock 
of  American  character.  But  if  any  Christian  faith  gain  a  national 
power,  it  must  have  a  national  growth ;  it  must  so  far  admit  the 
action  of  a  living  principle  as  to  give  it  a  proper  adaptation  to 
American  needs ;  and  to  this  end  it  must  in  its  early  stages,  amidst 
a  population  wholly  indifferent  to  the  forms  of  England,  or  Rome, 
or  any  other,  fall  back  as  far  as  possible  on  essentials,  and  make 


80  MEMOIR   OF 

its  methods  flexible.  We  can  as  soon  build  a  York  Minster,  in  a 
western  clearing,  as  make  the  mass  of  American  society  accept  a 
finished  Anglican  worship.  There  should  be,  first,  an  adaptation 
of  the  ministry  to  the  people.  A  settled  parochial  clergy  must  be, 
of  course,  the  chief  reliance ;  but  there  should  be,  besides  these, 
an  order  fitted  by  a  proper  culture  to  minister  to  the  multitude,  not 
trained  in  the  church  system.  It  is  wanted  directly  around  us  for 
labor  in  half  organized  parishes,  or  among  the  ignorant  and  poor 
who  cannot  be  now  reached.  It  is  wanted  for  missionary  work  ; 
and  when  we  say  this  we  do  not  mean,  as  too  many  imagine,  some 
little  suburban  province  of  church  action.  For  a  century  to  come 
our  main  labor  in  this  continent  is  emphatically  of  .the  missionary 
character ;  our  country  is  the  valley  of  the  West,  and  the  broad 
fields  now  opening  before  us  to  the  Pacific.  Such  a  class  may  be 
created  without  detriment  to  learning  or  regular  order;  and  to 
suppose  otherwise  is  as  absurd  as  to  say  that  an  army  is  spoiled  by 
the  organization  of  a  corps  of  light  infantry.  We  want  both  a 
highly  educated  clergy  and  a  clergy  for  the  people ;  and  instead  of 
lowering  the  standard  we  exalt  it  by  a  right  division  of  labor.  Its 
influence  will  be  a  living  one  to  carry  the  church  into  the  heart 
of  society.  Thus  Wesley  preached  and  began  a  work  which  the 
Mother  Church,  in  her  cold  narrowness,  would  not  appreciate,  but 
hardened  her  heart  against  him,  and  forced  thousands  who  might 
have  been  loving  children  into  separatists.  But,  next,  there  should 
be  an  adaptation  of  worship  to  the  same  necessity.  The  very 
notion  of  one  rigid  ritual  for  every  class,  drilled  in  its  use  from 
infancy,  or  utterly  unaccustomed  to  it,  is  an  absurdity.  Such 
modifications  should  be,  and  may  be,  consistent  with  the  keeping 
always  of  the  essential  features  of  the  Liturgy,  with  soberness  and 
good  tase ;  the  self-same  service  will  remain  for  the  trained  Church 
man  ;  but  the  vast  class  without  the  church,  from  whom  she  must 
have  her  recruits,  should  see  and  hear  her  in  her  Catholicity.  She 
must  show  her  willingness  and  capacity  to  meet  their  wants,  to  use 
every  mode  consistent  with  essential  unity ;  she  must  make  manifest 
her  living,  active,  and  generous  spirit.' 

"  A  very  just  tribute  is  then  paid  to  our  germinal  powers  as  com 
pared  with  those  of  the  less  perfect  communions  about  us.  It  is 
said  at  the  same  time,  with  great  truth : 

"  '  Instead  of  a  Church  Catholic  it  is  not  to  be  mistaken  that  we 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  81 

are  in .  position  a  sect.  It  is  true  that  we  are  among  the  most  re 
spectable  of  Christian  bodies  in  education,  refinement,  wealth,  and 
piety.  Our  growth  has  been  considerable ;  our  moderate  doctrines 
free  from  theological  heat ;  our  broad  communion ;  our  attractive 
ritual,  Protestant,  yet  without  the  bareness  of  New  England  wor 
ship  ;  our  dignified  and  sober  character ;  our  conservative  tone 
amidst  the  whirl  of  religious  and  social  reforms,  have  given  us  great 
influence.  But  our  growth  has  been  and  is  of  a  special  character, 
mainly  by  accession  from  radical  bodies  of  men,  affrighted  by 
the  influx  of  unchecked  opinion  or  wild  piety  ;  men  of  conservative 
feelings  and  good  taste.  This  is  all  well,  and  to  a  certain  degree 
may  be  said  to  show  the  influence  of  the  truths  we  possess  over 
one-sided  sectarianism.  But  in  another  and  much  more  frequent 
sense  we  have  won  those  who  care  not  a  rush  for  the  church,  but 
who  find  in  her  liturgy  and  sober  ways  a  comfortable  refuge.  It 
is  for  them  a  pleasant  Hotel  des  Invalided.  Our  system  does  not 
reach  the  mass  of  the  American  middle  class.  We  do  not  mean, 
of  course,  that  it  excludes  them  altogether,  but  that  a  comparatively 
small  portion  of  them  enter  its  communion.  Methodist  and  Bap 
tist  take  hold  of  such  classes,  but  we  do  not.  Can  the  fact  be 
denied  ?  We  challenge  the  proofs  ;  we  challenge  any  to  go  through 
the  parishes  of  our  communion  in  city  and  country,  and  reckon 
the  proportion.  Where  we  have  become  a  church  for  such  classes, 
it  is  because  certain  new  features,  the  first  fruits  of  the  harvest 
which  we  would  more  fully  reap,  e.  g.  the  free-church  system,  have 
been  introduced.  To  the  vast  multitude  of  the  people  we  are  a 
church  of  England  not  of  America ;  an  exotic,  not  an  indigenous 
and  native  Christianity ;  a  church  of  rigid  and  foreign  ceremonies. 
But  even  if  it  be  allowed  that  our  influence  is  equal  to  that  of  the 
sects  about  us,  which  we  by  no  means  grant,  the  very  allowance 
is  the  most  feeble  argument.  If  we  be  a  Catholic  church  we  should 
not  be  content  with  this;  we  should  'do  more  than  others;'  we 
should  meet  every  class.  As  it  is  we  stand  virtually  on  the  same 
platform  with  the  Presbyterian,  a  Church  for  the  upper  ranks ; 
wealthy,  decent,  with  our  peculiar,  exclusive  distinctions,  not 
Catholic  attractions ;  a  little  less  rigid  than  they  in  theology  and 
social  habits,  a  little  more  so  in  worship ;  in  fact,  held  by  the  world 
as  in  a  kind  of  unstable  equilibrium  between  Calvinist  and  Unita 
rian.  There  are  enough  who  talk  of  '  the  church/  but  to  call  it 


82  MEMOIR   OF 

so  in  any  practical  sense,  as  having  such  a  position  or  influence 
over  American  character,  is  simply  absurd.  Even  in  comparison 
with  Rome  we  have  far  less  practical  efficiency ;  her  system  acts 
with  a  vigor  we  cannot  have  on  the  poor  and  half  educated,  and 
men  begin  to  fear  that  she  may  be  '  the  church'  of  America  while 
they  have  no  fear  whatever  about  us.  Here  indeed  in  the  east  and 
middle  states  we  do  not  so  fully  feel  the  want,  since  our  long  estab 
lishment,  our  wealth  and  social  resources,  satisfy  us ;  but  in  the 
valley  of  the  west  and  the  larger  part  of  our  vast  continent  it  is  a 
patent  fact.  It  is  very  easy  for  our  complacent  churchmen  to  shut 
their  eyes,  and  say,  '  we  are  going  on  very  fairly  as  we  are ;  we 
need  nothing  better/  The  signs  of  the  times  cannot  be  mistaken ; 
the  Memorial  does  not  fabricate,  but  speaks  a  profound  conviction 
of  many  of  every  party ;  the  movements  in  Convention  for  a  new 
order  of  deacons,  the  confessed  dearth  of  clergy,  the  demand  for 
special  missionary  work,  are  proofs  that  the  need  exists  and  is  felt. 
It  cannot  be  laughed  down,  or  frowned  down,  or  put  out  of  sight 
by  any  who,  like  the  old  Aristotelian,  will  not  look  into  the  tele 
scope  for  fear  he  may  see." 

The  following  passages  sum  up  the  practical  views  taken  by  our 
author : 

"  Two  objects  embrace  the  whole,  the  creation  of  a  clerical  order 
for  extra-parochial  and  missionary  work,  and  the  allowance  of  a 
greater  variety  in  our  worship.  This  may  be  accomplished  by  an 
increase  of  forms  of  service  of  more  stately  harmonies  for  solemn 
seasons,  of  simpler  modes  for  simpler  uses.  Or  it  may  be  done  by 
the  admission  of  a  power,  duly  limited,  of  preaching  the  word  and 
ministering  the  sacraments  with  less  rigid  enforcement  of  the  rubric. 
These  modifications  will  not  break  down  the  barriers  of  order.  No 
material  changes  need  be  made  in  the  ordinary  service  of  our 
parishes ;  and  in  every  case,  while  greater  freedom  is  allowed  for 
special  occasions,  we  should  preserve  the  essential  features  of  our 
liturgy,  e.g.  the  creeds,  the  absolution,  the  Lord's  prayer,  the  neces 
sary  formula  of  the  baptismal  and  eucharistic  offices.  Psalter, 
lessons,  and  collects  may  be  left  open  for  selection.  Very  far  are 
we  from  those  who  would  surrender  our  worship  for  random  ex 
temporizing;  we  want  a  well  regulated  liberty.  There  will  be 
those  who  doubt  the  practicability  of  some  plans  proposed  by  certain 
of  the  Memorialists,  as  the  admission  of  ministers  from  the  Christian 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  83 

bodies  around  us  to  orders  with  but  few  liturgical  restrictions.  Such 
a  scheme  may,  indeed,  have  a  wrong  as  well  as  a  right  side ;  yet 
we  can  conceive  no  difficulty  in  making  such  restrictions,  though 
few,  sufficient  to  preserve  the  faith  and  principles  of  the  church. 
Certainly  at  present  our  episcopate  has  more  the  aspect  of  a  denomi 
national  peculiarity  than  a  Catholic  institution ;  and  we  shall  do 
well  to  consider  in  what  practical  way  we  may  restore  its  Catholic 
function.  But  whatever  our  opinion  of  this  or  that  particular,  we 
may  surely,  if  we  desire  heartily  some  improvement,  find  some  way 
to  accomplish  it.  It  were  poor  evidence  of  our  wisdom,  if,  for 
doubt  of  any  individual  scheme,  we  give  up  altogether,  all  aim  after 
better  things.  There  is  ground  enough  to  unite  on  if  there  be  the 
spirit  of  unity.  It  is  this  we  wish  to  awaken,  this  common  feeling 
of  the  want,  confident  that  it  will  overcome  every  seeming  hind 
rance  ;  and  to  this  end  we  have  written.  We  have  therefore  sought 
to  place  the  movement  on  its  right  ground ;  to  prove  that  it  is  no 
radical  effort  but  a  sound  one  to  uphold  the  church.  That  claim 
we  urge,  not  on  the  plea  of  worldly  expediency;  God  forbid  that 
we  prostitute  His  cause  to  the  base  level  of  modern  competition  ! 
but  as  a  wisdom  based  on  truth  and  justice.  We  affirm  it  false  to 
the  divine  character  of  the  church  to  stand  before  the  world  in  any 
other  than  this  Catholic  position ;  we  deny  emphatically  our  right 
to  enforce  on  every  man,  as  the  essential  condition  of  entering  our 
communion,  conformity  to  our  whole  prescribed  ritual.  It  matters 
not  if  it  approve  itself  to  a  cultivated  taste ;  it  matters  not  if  men 
should  accept  it  for  essentials  although  they  love  not  its  secondary 
forms.  The  church  cannot  compel  assent,  but  she  does  so  virtually, 
so  far  as  lies  in  her  power,  by  imposing  on  all  alike  these  restric 
tions.  Her  duty  is  to  provide  largely  for  all.  We  do  not  speak 
here  as  reformers,  but  as  churchmen  to  churchmen.  If  we  be  a 
sect,  if  we  want  only  a  sectarian  system  for  a  class  of  certain  tastes 
and  habits,  we  are  justified.  The  Presbyterian  is  right  in  demand 
ing  subscription  to  his  catechism  and  covenant;  the  Baptist  is  right 
in  enforcing  immersion  and  close  communion ;  for  each  is  and 
claims  to  be  only  a  sect.  If  we  be  like  them  we  may  follow  them, 
but  if  we  be  a  branch  of  the  church  Catholic,  we  must  show  our 
Catholicity." 

We  must  now  close,  but  not  without  returning  our  thanks  to  the 
very  able  writer  for  the  capable  style  and  generous  spirit  in  which 


84  MEMOIR   OF 

he  has  dealt  with  this  great  question.  And  we  can  have  at  least 
the  consolation  that  if  the  memorial  does  not  extend  the  boundaries 
of  our  communion,  it  will  bind  in  closer  union  elements  in  her  very 
heart  which  are  not  the  least  earnest  and  efficient  in  her  composition. 

IX. 

Dr.  Johnson  said  that  the  best  rule  was  never  to  be  solitary  when 
idle,  or  idle  w7hen  solitary.  A  late  writer  very  happily  gives  another 
phase  of  this  same  truth,  when  he  says,  "  Solitary  thought  corrodes 
the  mind,  if  it  be  not  blended  with  social  activity ;  and  social 
activity  produces  a  restless  craving  for  excitement,  if  it  be  not 
blended  with  solitary  thought." 

X. 

For  the  minister  to  say,  "You  have  no  right  to  private  judg 
ment  yourself,  therefore  form  the  private  judgment  that  the  Church 
is  the  infallible  judge,  and  surrender  to  it  your  conscience,"  is  the 
same  as  for  the  Sexton  to  say  to  the  corpse,  "  My  dear  friend,  you 
are  entirely  dead,  so  jump  into  the  grave  and  kill  yourself."  If 
the  man  is  dead,  he  cannot  bury  himself — if  he  can  bury  himself 
he  is  alive.  If  he  has  no  power  of  forming  an  opinion,  his  sub 
mission  to  the  church  is  a  nullity ;  if  he  has  the  power  of  submis 
sion  to  the  church,  he  has  the  right  of  private  judgment.  The 
advocate  for  "church  principles,"  first  states  an  untruth,  then 
admits  it  to  be  so,  and  then  advises  a  spiritual  felo-de-se. 

XI. 

You  cannot  recollect  the  differences  of  old  days.  Then,  intole 
rance  was  social  rather  than  theological, — now  it  is  theological  rather 
than  social.  Then  the  evangelical  man  was  tolerable  as  a  church 
man,  but  not  as  a  man ;  now  he  is  tolerable  as  a  man  but  not  as  a 
churchman. 

XII. 

You, — I  mean  parents,  teachers  as  well  as  preachers — make  a 
great  mistake  in  presenting  reproof  by  pressure  instead  of  by  punc 
ture.  Truth  may  be  shot  into  the  system  through  a  pin  hole,  but 
it  cannot  be  forced  into  it  even  by  the  weight  of  a  mill-stone — 
Martial's  famous  couplet  I  think  bears  here : — 

"  An  epigram  isjike  a  bee,  a  thing 
Of  little  size,  with  honey  and  a  sting." 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  85 

XIII. 

Lady  Blessington,  herself  one  of  the  most  demoralizing  and 
demoralized  of  this  world's  votaries,  gives  us  the  following  as  one 
of  the  golden  rules  of  the  religion  of  which  she  was  a  prime 
minister : 

"Be  prosperous  and  happy,  never  require  our  services,  and  we 
will  remain  your  friends. — This  is  not  what  society  says,  but  it  is 
the  principle  on  which  it  acts." 

Now  see  the  contrast  in  our  Gospel : 

"  BLESSED  BE  GOD,  EVEN  THE  FATHER  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS 
CHRIST,  THE  FATHER  OF  MERCIES,  AND  THE  GOD  OF  ALL 

COMFORT,  WHO  COMFORTETH  US  IN  ALL  OUR  TRIBULATIONS, 
THAT  WE  MAY  BE  ABLE  TO  COMFORT  THEM  WHICH  ARE  IN  ANY 
TROUBLE." 

XIV. 

Consider  that  if  we  repent  each  night  for  each  day's  sins,  when 
the  night  of  death  conies,  we  will  have  but  one  day's  sins  to 
repent  of. 

RUBRICAL  RELAXATION.— DR.  MUHLENBERG'S  PAMPHLET. 

We  are  glad  to  be  able  to  state  that  among  a  number  of  commu 
nications  received  by  us  on  the  subject  of  Dr.  Muhlenberg's  pam 
phlet,  and  the  positions  assumed  by  us  in  respect  thereto,  there  has 
not  as  yet  been  one  which  dissents  from  the  general  views  we  have 
expressed  on  this  important  issue.  And  without  pretending  to 
speak  for  that  portion  of  the  "  High"  Church  party  (and  we  are 
glad  to  say  that  it  forms  no  inconsiderable  fraction,  either  as  to 
numbers  or  weight),  which  agrees  with  the  main  features  of  the 
memorial,  we  feel  authorized  to  say  that  among  our  clergy  and 
laity  south  of  the  Hudson  who  fall  under  the  name  of  evangelical 
there  is  almost  an  entire  unanimity  in  the  belief  that  the  agitation 
of  the  subject  in  the  shape  proposed  is  in  itself  a  great  benefit  to 
the  Church  for  which  she  is  peculiarly  indebted  to  the  noble  and 
unselfish  spirit  of  Dr.  Muhlenberg  himself,  and  of  those  who  have 
acted  with  him.  So  far  as  concerns  the  liberty  asked  for  in  his 
exposition,  the  opinion  is  equally  decided  that  it  should  be  granted, 
if  not  by  the  repeal  of  those  rubrics  which  stand  in  the  way,  at 


86  MEMOIR   OF 

least  by  the  general  recognition  of  the  principle  that  they  are  only 
obligatory  in  the  performance  of  public  worship  in  organize/!  con 
gregations  on  Sunday  on  occasions  of  morning  and  afternoon  ser 
vice.  With  regard  to  the  legislation  suggested  by  Dr.  Muhlenberg, 
and  particularly  with  regard  to  his  views  as  to  the  consolidation  of 
the  discretionary  power  of  dispensation  in  the  Bishops  instead  of  its 
dispersion  among  the  parochial  clergy,  we  are  at  liberty  to  speak  in 
less  decisive  terms,  and  we  would  feel  more  difficulty  still  in  con 
nection  with  the  views  of  the  much  honored  author  on  the  subject 
of  the  communication  of  our  peculiar  orders  to  other  Protestant 
communions  upon  the  terms  he  suggests.  But  these  are  in  truth 
extraneous  to  the  main  point  at  issue,  and  as  to  that  point  we  have 
no  manner  of  hesitation.  Our  Church,  to  penetrate  the  inland, — to 
reach  this  village  on  the  mountain  side,  or  that  valley  whose  dis 
persed  population  have  to  be  first  broken  to  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  by  a  process  analogous  to  that  of  the  Sunday  school, — must 
reduce  her  service  so  as  to  enable  her  to  ascend  channels  whose  very 
first  bar  she  would  be  unable  to  surmount  in  her  full  liturgical 
armament.  We  have  already  noticed  as  an  illustration  of  the 
absurdity  of  this  course  the  exploits  of  the  late  (English)  explor 
ing  African  expedition  which,  after  having  at  great  expense 
equipped  a  squadron  to  ascend  the  great  inland  rivers  of  that  bar 
barous  country,  found  themselves  obliged  to  sail  back  again,  when 
they  had  scarcely  passed  the  seaboard,  because  they  had  neglected  to 
carry  with  them  smaller  craft  which  would  be  able  to  surmount 
shoals  which  the  heavy  armed  and  gallantly  equipped  ships  were 
unable  to  pass.  We  are  doing  just  the  same  thing.  Undoubtedly 
it  is  a  spectacle  of  great  sublimity  to  see  our  Church  with  all  her 
sails  set  in  the  full  pomp  and  grandeur  of  her  liturgical  apparel, 
bearing  it  away  on  a  free  sea,  and  in  the  glory  of  the  morning  sun. 
— We  will  join  with  Dr.  Berrian  in  all  his  expressions  of  admira 
tion  at  this  ;  and  we  will  go  beyond  him  in  our  earnest  aspirations 
that  that  noble  flag, — with  the  cross  wrought  into  it  by  martyrs' 
and  confessors'  hands, — may  be  carried  further  and  still  further, 
bravely  and  still  more  bravely,  till  the  remotest  heathen  coast  has 
acknowledged  its  presence  and  felt  its  blessing.  But  we  must 
protest  against  regarding  that  gallant  gospel  ship  as  a  mere  piece 
of  pageantry,  and  in  considering  that  religion  consists  in  keeping 
her  at  home  in  her  full  holiday  trappings,  and  then  taking  out  the 


DE.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  87 

rest  in  voluble  though  inert  admiration  of  her  inglorious  splendor. 
And  we  must  protest  also  against  such  an  impossibility  as  attempt 
ing  to  ascend  our  mountain  streams  or  navigate  our  inland  rivers 
with  such  an  equipment  and  in  such  a  style  as  this.  OUR  CHURCH, 
— and  it  is  worth  while  to  notice  it, — HAS  WITH  A  VERY  FEW  EX 
CEPTIONS,  OHIO  BEING  THE  CHIEF  ONE,  NO  SELF-SUPPORTING 
EXISTENCE  BEYOND  THE  SEABOARD.  The  Missionary  reports 
show  this.  And  if  we  examine  the  exception,  with  any  careful 
ness,  we  will  find  that  they  fall  within  two  classes, — (1.)  Where 
there  is  a  congregation  of  ready-made  Episcopalians  emigrated 
from  the  East,  (2.)  where  the  minister  adopting  the  common  law 
interpretation  rather  than  the  statutory  text,  adapts  our  service  to 
the  people  as  the  only  means  of  adapting  the  people  to  our  service. 
It  is  just  for  this  right  we  contend.  As  a  matter  of  taste  it  is 
more  than  likely  that  we  would  agree  with  our  eastern  co-tempora 
ries  in  desiring  that  the  service  as  performed  in  our  city  congrega 
tions  at  present,  should  continue  in  future  to  be  performed,  with 
the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  change  incident  to  a  revision  of  the 
lessons,  and  the  option  to  the  minister  to  begin  on  Communion 
Sundays  with  the  Litany  or  the  Ante-Communion  service.  But 
with  regard  to  missionary  Agencies,  and  to  informal  services  even 
in  our  thickly  settled  parishes,  we  believe  that  the  present  supposed 
rubrical  restrictions  should  be  broken  down,  and  that  there  should 
be  that  full  liberty  allowed  which  is  refused  by  no  Church  in 
Christendom  but  our  own.  And  we  believe  that  we  do  not  speak 
without  warrant  when  we  say  that  these  views  are  concurred  in  by 
the  entire  body  of  that  portion  of  our  communion, — at  least  south 
and  west  of  the  Hudson, — with  which  we  have  been  for  so  many 
years  identified. 

A  PILGRIMAGE  TO  SEBASTOPOL.— HOW  TO  FIND  IT. 

MESSRS.  EDITORS  : — We  cannot  but  express  most  warmly  our 
pleasure  at  your  noble  stand  on  behalf  of  our  English  brethren  now 
fighting  for  the  right  before  the  walls  of  Sebastopol.  But  why  do 
you  stop  here  ?  Have  you  not  a  word  to  say  in  behalf  of  Miss 
Nightingale,  Miss  Sellon,  and  those  other  true-hearted  ladies  who 
are  now  in  the  same  camp,  exposed  to  equal  dangers  (of  climate, 
infections,  etc.),  visiting  the  sick  ?  I  speak  only  for  many  when  I 


88  MEMOIR   OF 

say  that  so  noble  an  example  has  fired  many  a  heart  among  their 
American  countrywomen  with  a  desire  to  share  with  those  sisters 
of  mercy  their  cross  by  the  stormy  Crimea,  and  then  take  part  in 
their  heavenly  crown. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 


[We  are  glad  to  hear  that  A e  and  those  with  whom  she  has 

conferred  are  "  fired"  with  so  good  a  purpose.  There  is  no  reason 
why  the  motive  power  of  enthusiasm  should  be  surrendered  entirely 
to  the  world.  There  is  no  reason  why  a  Christian  should  stand 
shivering  at  the  brink  of  a  rivulet  over  which  lies  a  little  skimmed 
ice,  when  the  man  of  business  or  the  man  of  pleasure,  to  get  at  his 
object,  will  construct  an  ice-boat  that  will  hew  through  a  frozen 

river.     We  are  glad,  therefore,  that  A e  has  enthusiasm  enough 

to  desire  to  go  to  Sebastopol.  But  we  will  tell  her  a  secret.  She 
is  mistaken  in  her  geography.  Sebastopol, — at  least  our  Sebastopol, 
— is  not  "  by  the  stormy  Crimea."  The  fact  is  that  there  are  more 
than  one  Sebastopol  in  existence,  two  or  three  of  which  are  in  our 
immediate  reach ;  and  in  order  to  give  our  correspondent  and  her 
friends  as  little  trouble  as  possible  in  finding  them,  we  will  give 
them  the  following  sketches  by  which  they  will  not  fail  to  identify 
the  Sebastopols  to  which  we  refer : 

A.  There  is  a  large  house  by  the  side  of  a  river,  with  a  white 
palace-like  front,  very  much  like  the  President's  house  at  Washing 
ton,  where  an  army  of  the  sick  and  wretched  are  collected.     Bands 
of  pious  women  and  men  are  organized  under  the  Union  Benevo 
lent  Society  to  visit  and  succor  these.     If  A e  would  find  this 

Sebastopol  difficult  of  access, — and  we  do  not  recommend   it'  to 
all, — clothing  or  money  or  stores  will  be  thankfully  received  and 
faithfully  appropriated  by  that  excellent  institution. 

B.  Near  the  juncture  of  the  Reading  Rail  Road  and  Front 
Street,  in  Philadelphia,  in  an  old-fashioned  country-seat-looking 
white  building, — for  it  was  once  a  country-seat  in  reality, — is  a 
hospital  where  in  the  course  of  a  year  one  thousand  of  the  sick 
are  relieved  by  out-door  attendance,  and  hundreds  are  admitted 
to  beds  to  be  faithfully  and  kindly  treated  until  recovery  or  death 
relieves  them.     This  Sebastopol  can  be  particularly  recommended 
to  A 8  and  her  friends,  because — 1st,  donations  of  books  and 


DK.    FRANCIS   WHABTON.  89 

garments  are  here  particularly  valuable  and  most  needed ;  2d, 
visits  of  mercy  and  tenderness  to  the  female  wards  can  be  organ 
ized  under  the  Bishop  and  Chaplain  with  peculiar  ease  and  deli 
cacy  ;  and  3d,  the  institution  has  extraordinary  claims  to  such 
attention  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  hospital  in  our  city 
where  Protestant  Religious  Services  are  secured,  and  is  at  the 
same  time  the  only  hospital  at  all  which  is  conveniently  accessible 
to  a  population  of  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  souls. 

C.  We  come  last  to  a  multitude  of  Sebastopols  still  more  easy 

of  access.     A e  and  her  associates,  in  order  to  find  them,  have 

only  to  go  home.  And  here  indeed  we  would  particularly  recom 
mend  those  who  would  follow  Miss  Nightingale  and  Miss  Sellon 
to  go.  It  is  true  that  there  are  cases  where  hearths  have  been  so 
dismantled  and  made  desolate  by  the  storms  of  affliction  that  there 
is  no  home  left.  The  discolored  and  decaying  leaves  that  mat  the 
damp  earth  may  be  all  that  remains  to  tell  of  the  luxuriant  foliage 
that  once  sheltered  from  the  summer's  sun  as  well  as  gave  beauty 
and  home-feeling  to  the  scene.  Death  or  misfortune  or  that  disen 
tangling  hand  which  so  often  unravels  the  web  of  relationship, 
dividing  those  who  once  sat  around  the  same  hearth  by  hundreds 
of  miles,  may  have  come  to  throw  the  eye  outward,  and  to  make 
it  seek  occupation  and  find  duty  elsewhere.  In  such  cases  God 
himself  leads  the  way  to  such  objects  as  we  have  noticed,  and 
though  that  way  is  sharp  and  rugged, — blasted  out,  as  it  were, 
from  the  solid  rock  by  His  Divine  wrath, — yet  is  easily  found. 
But  home  is  more  frequently  within  reach  of  us  all — a  spot  where 
we  can  exert  ourselves  either  to  do  or  suffer  for  the  good  of  others. 

"  The  common  round,  the  daily  task 
Should  give  us  all  we  ought  to  ask, 
Room  to  deny  ourselves  the  road, 
To  lead  us  daily  on  to  God."] 


90  MEMOIR   OF 


CHAPTER    V. 

VISIT  TO  EUROPE  IN  1859. 
TO  MRS.  T.  I.  WHARTON. 

"  STEAMSHIP  '  FULTON,' 
July  1st,  1859. 

"  MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

"  I  am  taking  a  moment  of  calm  to  write  you  a  few  lines  which 
will  be  mailed  from  Havre.  After  leaving  you  in  Philadelphia  I 
had  a  very  pleasant  journey  to  New  York.  I  drove  at  once  to  the 
Anthons,  whom  I  found  very  kind.  They  were  all  at  home,  and 
I  spent  all  that  evening  with  them  in  cheerful  talk  about  old  times. 
I  was  very  sorry  that  I  could  not  get  up  to  see  the  Stoutenbergs, 
and  that  I  had  not  time  to  visit  Sarah.  But  I  was  kept  all  Friday 
in  arranging  business  matters,  about  passports,  etc.,  and  on  Satur 
day  I  had  only  time  to  write  a  few  business  letters,  and  get  down 
to  the  steamship. 

"  Twelve  o'clock  was  our  hour  for  starting,  and  sometime  before 
that  hour  the  passengers  were  collected.  I  found  Mrs.  McEuen 
and  Miss  Ashhurst  with  two  or  three  of  the  Ashhurst  boys.  The 
only  other  Philadelphiaus  were  Mrs.  Dana,  a  very  intelligent 
woman  with  a  great  deal  of  cultivation,  her  son,  a  boy  of  fifteen 
or  sixteen,  and  George  Biddle,  with  another  Philadelphia  lawyer, 
Mr.  Junkin.  There  are  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  passengers 
on  board,  but  they  are  greatly  divided  among  themselves,  forming 
about  equal  parties  of  Americans,  of  Frenchmen,  of  Germans,  and 
of  Spaniards.  The  French  and  the  Germans  are  anything  but 
inclined  to  fraternize,  and  this  coolness  spreads  itself  among  the 
passengers  generally.  Prominent  among  the  Germans  is  Karl 
Formes,  a  great  opera-singer  and  actor,  and  at  the  same  time  an 
enthusiastic  German  patriot.  You  have  no  idea  of  the  vehement 
antagonism  of  the  Germans  to  the  French.  Napoleon  they  look 
upon  with  perfect  detestation.  The  French  gentlemen  have  taken 
possession  of  the  large  room  at  the  stern  of  the  boat,  into  which  the 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  91 

Germans,  notwithstanding  their  fondness  for  cigars,  which  here  are 
the  staple,  never  intrude.  On  the  other  hand,  when  Karl  Formes, 
the  great  singer,  sang  some  of  his  finest  songs  yesterday  evening, 
very  few  if  any  of  the  French  attended. 

"  I  was  very  fortunate  in  my  state-room.  The  lower  half  of  it 
was  kept,  in  response  to  a  telegram  from  Baltimore,  but  when  the 
day  came  for  sailing  the  applicant  did  not  make  his  appearance. 
The  consequence  is  that  I  have  had  the  whole  room  to  myself.  So 
far  the  weather  is  delightful.  I  must  now  close,  my  dear  mother. 

With  much  love  believe  me  ever  yours, 

«F.  W." 

"BERLIN,  Sept.  6,  1859. 

"  MY  DEAR  EMILY  : 

"  I  did  not  arrive  here  until  last  night,  and  did  not  get  your 
letter  and  Henry's  telling  me  of  Kate's  illness  until  this  morning. 
I  need  not  tell  you  how  deeply  I  felt  all  you  said.  My  trust  and 
hope  is  that  by  this  time  Kate  and  the  boy  are  quite  well.  To 
morrow  or  next  day  I  expect  letters  giving  me  her  condition  after 
the  llth.  I  suppose  by  this  time  you  are  back  in  Phila.,  having 
been  to  Gambier. 

"  I  am  now  settled  here  for  a  month,  and  hope  to  master  the 
German  language  finally.  Mr.  Griffin  has  joined  me,  and  we  have 
taken  rooms  where  we  have  all  the  comforts  of  a  private  house. 
In  this  way  hotel  expenses  are  reduced  one-half.  In  Dresden  you 
can  get  a  suite  of  furnished  rooms,  five  or  six  in  number,  for  about 
fifty  dollars  a  month.  No  one  there  occupies  a  whole  house,  and 
the  best  families  merely  rent  a  suite  of  rooms.  As  to  education  it 
is  very  low.  I  had  a  sort  of  tutor-secretary 'who  came  every 
afternoon  and  spent  three  hours  with  me  at  a  fabulously  low  rate. 
The  table  expenses  are  also  much  smaller  than  in  Philadelphia.  I 
suppose  this  is  the  reason  why  many  American  and  English  fami 
lies  come  here  to  live.  I  am  sure  of  one  thing,  that  people  can  live 
in  a  refined  way, — up  to  the  average  of  refined  people  at  home, — 
cheaper  here  than  in  America.  Thus  I  think  that  $1200  a  year 
would  go  much  farther  here  in  keeping  up  appearances.  But  for 
comfort,  I  do  not  think  they  come  up  to  the  way  we  live.  And  I 
think  $3000  or  $4000  a  year  purchases  really  more  in  America 
than  in  Europe.  Then  again  Gambier  is  much  cheaper  in  the 


92  MEMOIR   OF 

price  of  provisions  than  even  Munich.  I  have  no  doubt,  however, 
that  Dresden  is  a  far  more  economical  place  than  Paris. 

"  I  have  written  so  often  to  Gam  bier  and  Philadelphia  that  I 
now  feel  almost  like  resting  a  little  while.  I  have  had  a  letter 
from  Bishop  Bedell  saying  that  he  accepts  my  offer  to  make  my 
house  his  home  between  November  and  January. 

"  I  write  with  great  haste  to  save  the  steamer  and  remain  ever  yrs. 

"F.  W." 

TO  MRS.  SINKLER. 

''BERLIN,  Sept.  18,  1859. 

"  MY  DEAR  EMILY  : 

.  .  .  "  I  shall  stay  here — decidedly  the  most  agreeable  place  I 
have  yet  visited — until  about  October  10th.  Then  I  go  to  Italy 
again,  then  to  Paris,  and  wind  up  in  England.  My  passage  I  shall 
take  in  the  'Arago'  for  Dec.  13. 

"  I  expect  to  bring  Lizzie  over  some  very  good  music.  There  is 
a  young  man  here,  an  American,  one  of  the  most  splendid  per 
formers  in  Berlin,  who  is  going  to  make  the  selection  for  me.  I 
am  very  glad  the  boys'  are  going  to  spend  the  winter  with  me. 

"Mr.  Griffin  is  with  me,  and  has  entirely  recovered.  For 
myself,  I  have  not  had  a  headache  worth  speaking  of  since  I  sailed. 

"  My  own  belief  is,  that  if  you  mean  to  visit  Europe  for  the  chil 
dren's  sake,  there  is  but  one  place  and  .that  is  Dresden.  Switzer 
land  is  as  dear  as  Paris,  and  Paris  is  one  big  cheat  and  falsehood. 
But  here  and  at  Dresden  educational  facilities  are  great,  and  every 
thing  is  astonishingly  cheap.  Let  me  tell  you  of  my  yesterday's 
dinner,  premising  that  the  cooking  is  delightful. 

'  Soup 2  cents. 

Roast  mutton  and  potatoes         .         .  6      " 

Mushrooms       .          .          .          .  3      " 

Partridge 8      " 

Pudding  (very  good)          .          .  4      " 

Compote 3      " 

Total 24  cents.' 

"  Your  dinner  varies  in  this  way  from  ten  to  thirty  cents,  and 
you  can  take  either  of  the  dishes  singly. 

"  I  can  write  but  little  now,  for  I  am  immersed  in  work,  getting 
material  for  my  book,  etc.  So,  with  love  to  Charles  and  the  chil 
dren,  I  am  ever  yr's. 

"F.  W." 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTOJS".  93 

» 

TO  MRS.  THOMAS  I.  WHARTON. 

"BELFAST,  Oct.  11,  1859. 
"  MY  DEAR  MOTHER  : 

....  a  I  have  been  spending  a  few  days  in  the  north  and  middle 
of  Scotland,  where  I  have  met  with  the  warmest  and  kindest  recep 
tion.  I  have  had  numerous  invitations  from  literary  and  religious 
quarters.  "On  Saturday  last  I  lectured  at  Glasgow  (the  largest  city 
in  Scotland)  to  a  large  audience  of  young  men.  The  'revivaT 
among  the  Scotch  is  very  remarkable,  and  whole  villages  are  pros 
trated  with  a  sense  of  sin.  Half  a  dozen  daily  prayer-meetings 
are  held  in  Glasgow.  Mr.  Hindt,  the  Episcopal  minister  there, 
told  me  that  while  he  was  preaching  twenty  or  thirty  persons  would 
be  i  struck  down/  that  is  to  say,  would  fall  senseless,  or  almost 
senseless,  on  the  floor.  In  many  instances  these  signs  would  be 
followed  by  solid  conversions.  He  discourages  these  bodily  mani 
festations  very  much,  and  has  succeeded  in  almost  entirely  repress 
ing  the  physical  excitement.  The  crowd  at  his  church,  however, 
is  immense.  I  was  there  last  Sunday  evening,  and  had  to  go  an 
hour  before  hand,  in  order  to  get  a  seat.  There  was  only  one 
case  of  prostration,  and  that  not  very  distressing.  But  here  in 
Ireland  things  are  in  an  extraordinary  condition.  In  one  little 
village  near  here  ten  tavern-keepers  have  been  obliged  to  give  up 
from  the  want  of  custom.  This  great  city  seems  really  overawed 
with  religious  feeling.  To  be  sure  there  are  very  extraordinary 
religious  accidents.  But  notwithstanding  these,  the  Protestant 
Bishop,  and  a  large  body  of  his  clergy,  have  given  in  their  adhesion 
to  the  revival  meetings.  I  hope  to  remain  here  a  few  days  and 
understand  the  state  of  things  more  fully.  After  that,  I  go  to 
England,  D.  V.,  and  then  to  Italy.  I  am  preparing  a  little  book 

of  curiosities  for  you  which  I  really  think  you  will  relish 

"  Ever  yours,  affectionately, 

"F.  W." 

TO  MRS.  SINKLER. 

"HAVRE,  Oct.  25,  1859. 

"  MY  DEAR  EMILY  : 

"  I  am  writing  a  few  lines  in  this  place,  where  I  am  waiting  for 
the  train.  I  left  England  last  night,  having  spent  a  most  pleasant 
fortnight  there,  and  you  can  form  little  idea  of  the  real  kindness  I 


94  MEMOIR   OF 

met  with.  I  have  written  to  mother  to  say  in  general  how  much 
hospitality  I  received.  Let  me  describe  a  day  at  Oxford,  one  at 
Cambridge,  and  one  .at  London.  Take  my  first  day  at  Oxford. 
First,  old  Dr.  McBride,  the  principal  of  Magdalen  Hall,  and  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  the  University,  took  me  to  see  all 
the  leading  sights.  Then  I  lunched  with  Mr.  Litton,  the  author 
of  the  book  on  the  Church,  and  quite  a  leading  thinker.  Then  I 
dined  at  Mr.  Golightly's,  where  I  met  a  number  of  distinguished 
people.  The  next  day  Mr.  Mansel  (I  suppose  the  greatest  English 
metaphysician  living)  fairly  took  me  to  live  with  him,  and  I  was 
perched  up,  in  the  afternoon,  in  one  of  the  Chapel  stalls,  among  all 
the  dignitaries,  in  the  exquisitely  ecclesiological  and  antiphonal 
chapel  of  St.  Magdalen. — Then  for  Cambridge.  The  afternoon 
I  arrived  there  I  was  '  dined'  and  then  '  wined'  by  the  fellows  of 
Caius  College.  Next  morning  I  was  breakfasted  by  Mr.  Clayton, 
Simeon's  successor.  That  evening  I  left  for  London,  where  I  found 
the  same  kindness.  Thus  on  Saturday  I  paid  a  very  agreeable 
visit  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  at  his  country-seat,  who 
gave  me  a  volume  just  published  by  him,  with  his  autograph 
inside.  I  then  dined  with  a  Mr.  Walker  at  a  very  beautiful  park 
in  the  same  neighborhood,  and  spent  the  night  with  Mr.  Silver, 
who  has  another  place  near  by.  I  ought  not  to  forget  that  I 
lunched  and  spent  the  greater  part  of  Friday  with  Miss  Marsh,  the 
authoress. 

"  I  have  just  taken  my  passage  in  the  ( Arago.'  I  am  delighted 
at  the  prospect  of  paying  a  quiet  visit  to  Mary  at  St.  Germain s, 
from  Nov.  25th  to  Dec.  12th,  and  then  of  returning  home.  I  am 
excessively  weary  of  travelling,  and  what  makes  it  worse,  my  head 
aches  have  returned.  I  wish  I  did  not  have  to  make  this  Italian 
journey ;  but  it  seems  absurd  to  be  in  Europe  without  going  to 
Rome,  and  so  I  hurry  on. 

"  I  have  not  heard  from  you  since  you  left  Gambier,  though 
Joe,  Tip,  Hamilton,  and  Ohl  have  all  written  to  me.  I  sympathize 
deeply  with  poor  Charlie  in  his  being  obliged  to  sit  in  the  baggage- 
car  on  his  way  to  Mansfield,  and  trust  that  he  is  now  fairly  rid  of 
this  ostracizing  complaint. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  Mr.  Dallas,  who  has  been  very  kind  to  me, 
thinks  that  the  relations  between  England  and  America  are  very 
precarious.  Lord  Palmerston,  it  seems,  has  hurried  off  a  fleet  of 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  95 

steam-frigates  to  St.  Juan.  His  colleagues,  however,  hold  him  in 
check,  and  it  is  questionable  whether  he  can  carry  a  majority  of 
them  into  any  measures  which  will  necessitate  a  collision.  Mr. 
Dallas  says  that  Lord  Palmerston  personally  is  very  irritating 
towards  America — very  different  from  his  conservative  predecessors, 
who  were  very  pacific  and  conciliatory. 

"  The  preaching  of  the  English  Church  is,  I  think,  above  the 
average  of  ours.  Their  sermons  appear  more  effective,  chiefly  be 
cause  they  do  not  use  notes.  I  must  stop  now. 

"  With  love,  ever  y'rs, 

"F.  W." 

"SCOTCH  EPISCOPALIANS  SCHISMATIC— A  SECT. 

"LONDON,  July  24,  1859. 

"  A  very  significant  debate  took  place  in  the  House  of  Commons 
on  the  13th  instant.  A  Mr.  Grieve,  a  Scotch  Episcopal  clergy 
man,  petitioned  for  a  private  Act  of  Parliament  to  authorize  him 
to  officiate  in  the  established  Church  of  England.  It  was  admitted 
that  by  the  law  as  it  stood,  Scotch  Episcopal  orders  did  not  enable 
parties  receiving  them  to  hold  Anglican  preferments.  It  was  urged, 
however,  that  there  were  many  precedents  of  private  enabling  acts 
such  as  the  present.  It  was  pretty  soon  seen,  however,  that  the 
question  was  largely  affected  by  doctrinal  sympathies.  For  the  bill 
were  arrayed  the  Puseyites  and  the  Nothingarians,  against  it  was 
the  entire  Protestant  interest.  I  give  notes  of  one  or  two  of  the 
speeches : 

" '  Sir  A.  Agnew  complained  that  in  the  bill  Dr.  Skinner  was 
designated  as  Bishop  of  Aberdeen — an  innovation  he  thought 
highly  objectionable. 

"  '  Mr.  Steuart  said  the  bill  was  presented  to  the  house  under 
extraordinary  circumstances.  They  were  called  upon  to  deal  with 
this  case  through  the  medium  of  a  private  bill,  and  not  to  take  it 
up  as  a  principle,  and  seeking  to  embody  it  in  a  general  measure. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  Mr.  Grieve  had  fallen  under  the 
censure  of  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  in  which  he  had  been  located. 
He  was  a  Sacramentarian  of  the  most  decided  views  and  it  was  not 
right  that  he  should  be  permitted  to  disseminate  in  England  views 
condemned  in  Scotland.  He  should  move  that  the  bill  be  read  a 
second  time  that  day  three  months. 


96  MEMOIR   OF 

"  '  Mr.  S.  Estcourt  said  they  had  passed  similar  bills,  under 
similar  circumstances,  and  it  might  seem  hard  upon  an  individual 
that  they  should  suddenly  turn  round  after  he  had  been  put  to 
considerable  expense  in  bringing  his  case  to  that  stage,  though  he 
granted  that  matters  of  this  sort  would  be  dealt  with  better  by 
general  acts  of  Parliament.  If  the  bill  were  allowed  to  pass  its 
present  stage  it  might  be  sent  before  a  committee. 

"'Mr.  Newdegate  said  the  case  stood  so  that  this  gentleman 
came  before  them  in  connection  with  the  Episcopal  Church  of 
Scotland,  standing  condemned  in  that  Church  by  one  of  its  chief 
authorities,  and  through  this  peculiarity  he  was  induced  to  come 
before  Parliament.  He  thought  it  was  doubtful  whether  any  of 
these  applications  should  be  granted ;  the  Episcopal  Church  of 
Scotland  was  not  an  established  Church,  and  its  formularies  and 
articles  were  not  identical  with  those  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Great  difficulties,  however,  stood  in  the  way  of  a  general  measure, 
and  the  house  ought  to  be  very  careful  in  dealing  with  the  question. 

"  ( Mr.  Bouverie  said  it  was  time  for  them  to  stop  passing  these 
bills,  which  were  of  an  entirely  exceptional  character. 

"  'Lord  J.  Manners  (Puseyite  young  England)  said  that  the  hon 
orable  member  for  North  Warwickshire  (Mr.  Newdegate)  seemed 
to  think  that  this  gentleman  had  been  censured  for  some  matter  of 
doctrine.  Now  that  was  not  the  case.  The  whole  complaint 
against  him  was  that  he  declined  to  pronounce  an  opinion  in  a  case 
in  which  only  one  side  had  been  heard.  Althougli  there  was  no 
doubt  that  the  Bishop  in  question  did  write  the  letter  of  censure,  it 
was  also  true  that  the  same  Bishop  had  afterwards  written  a  letter 
in  which  he  spoke  of  Mr.  Grieve  in  the  highest  possible  terms. 
The  question  before  the  house  was  whether,, upon  the  statements 
made  upon  the  one  side,  which  were  rebutted  on  the  other,  they 
were  prepared  to  refuse  to  an  individual  who  had  already  incurred 
a  large  expense  in  prosecuting  his  bill  before  the  House  of  Lords, 
that  license  and  that  liberty  which  Parliament  had  assented  to  in 
numerous  instances  under  precisely  analogous  circumstances.  He 
held  that  it  would  be  unfair  to  withhold  that  relief  now  which  had 
been  given  in  similar  cases.  He  should  therefore  assent  to  the 
second  reading. 

"  '  Mr.  Roebuck  (Nothingarian)  said  it  struck  him  that  a  fair 
statement  of  the  case  had  not  as  yet  been  made.  The  member  for 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  97 

Kilmarnock  (Mr.  Bouverie)  stated  that  he  objected  to  any  devia 
tion  from  a  general  law  which  was  a  good  law.  He  agreed  with 
him  in  that  objection.  But  what  was  the  fact  ?  There  were  two 
classes  of  men  before  the  consideration  of  this  house — first,  the 
Catholic  priest,  and  secondly  the  Episcopalian  clergyman.  Now, 
what  did  they  do  with  the  Catholic  priest  ?  They  acknowledged 
his  ordination  the  moment  one  of  them  called  himself  a  clergyman 
of  the  Church  of  England,  and  he  was  allowed  to  take  the  benefit 
of  it.  But  with  the  Protestant  Episcopalian  clergy  of  Scotland 
they  did  no  such  thing.  When  an  Episcopalian  clergyman  declared 
himself  to  be  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England  he  was  com 
pelled  to  go  to  the  Protestant  Bishop  to  be  re-ordained.  He 
believed  that  the  real  objection  to  this  particular  gentleman  was 
that  he  was  unlike  a  Catholic  priest.  This  was  a  law  considered 
to  be  most  unfair  towards  our  Protestant  Episcopalian  brethren  of 
Scotland.  Being  a  thorough  advocate  for  the  principle  of  free 
trade  in  religion,  as  well  as  in  everything  else,  he  was  of  opinion 
,  what  was  a  rule  for  the  Catholic  priest  ought  to  be  also  a  rule  for 
the  Protestant  Episcopalian  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

"  '  Lord  Palmerston  wished  to  state  in  a  few  words  the  grounds 
upon  which  he  should  give  his  vote  in  opposition  to  this  bill.  He 
quite  concurred  with  his  right  honorable  friend  near  him  that  the 
discussion  upon  the  merits  of  the  law  as  it  now  stood  might  be 
fairly  remitted  to  a  committee  of  inquiry  into  the  whole  subject — 
namely,  whether  the  present  law  should  or  should  not  be  altered  or 
in  some  degree  modified.  But  there  was  on  the  general  principle 
a  great  objection  to  the  passing  of  private  bills  establishing  excep 
tions  to  a  particular  law.  Although  he  regretted  that  the  reverend 
gentleman  in  question  should  have,  been  put  to  such  great  expense 
in  this  matter,  he  nevertheless  thought  it  was  time  to  stop  those 
private  bills,  which  seemed  to  express  a  censure  of  the  existing  law. 
He  was  of  opinion  that  it  might  be  desirable  to  appoint  a  committee 
to  inquire  whether  the  law  should  be  altered  or  not.' 
"  The  house  then  divided — 

For  the  second  reading  .         .         .         .84 

Against  it 232 

Majority  against  the  2d  reading          148 

"So  it  is  that  even  special  permission  wTill  not  be  given  to  a 
Scotch  Tractarian  to  officiate  in  the  Church  of  England.     As  to  a 
7 


98  MEMOIR   OF 

general  law  permitting  '  free  trade'  in  this  respect,  the  large  majority 
above  given  shows  that  there  is  no  prospect  of  such  a  measure  pass 
ing  unless  coupled  with  a  provision  for  a  like  interchange  with  the 
other  reformed  churches. 

aHow  is  it,  I  may  ask,  with  our  American  Church  in  this 
respect  ?  Did  we  not  act  inadvertently  in  swallowing  in  a  gulp 
the  Scotch  Episcopal  orders?  We  were  then,  it  is  true,  in  the 
turmoil  of  our  own  organic  construction  ;  but  this  affords  no  objec 
tion  to  our  reconsidering  the  question  now  that  a  period  of  leisure 
has  arrived.  Independently  of  this,  the  validity  of  the  Scotch 
orders  is  still  an  open  question  on  which  each  individual  Bishop 
must  decide.  Those  orders,  as  is  well  known,  were  always  dis 
puted  by  the  English  Church.  Consecration  was  refused  to  Bishop 
White,  Bishop  Provoost,  and  Bishop  Madison,  until  they  engaged 
to  permit  Bishop  Seabury  (who  held  the  Scotch  succession  only), 
to  join  in  no  consecration  of  succeeding  Bishops  with  them,  unless 
he  became  a  mere  superfluity  from  the  attendance  of  three  Bishops 
of  the  Anglican  line.  This  pledge  was  religiously  kept.  The  con 
sequence  was  that  Bishop  Seabury's  orders  are  no  more  an  integral 
part  of  our  own,  than  those  of  Mar  Yohaunan,  a  supposed  Syrian 
Bishop,  who,  it  may  be  recollected,  flourished  in  some  of  our  Con 
ventions  and  ordinations  some  years  back.  If,  as  is  maintained  in 
England,  the  Scotch  orders  are  insufficient  from  a  break  in  the 
succession,  the  Scotch  clergymen  stand  on  the  same  footing  with 
the  Methodists.  Their  orders  are  merely  Presbyterian.  I  see  no 
objection  to  their  being  admitted  to  our  pulpits,  provided  they  sub 
scribe  to  our  formularies.  But  I  think  that  as  they  cannot  be  dis 
tinguished  on  principle  from  other  ministers  of  Presbyterian  ordi 
nation,  the  measure  that  admits  the  one  should  be  comprehensive 
enough  to  admit  the  other/7 


"PARIS. 

"  Even  the  Louvre  does  not  collect  a  greater  crowd  than  the 
pictures  of  Ary  Scheffer,  now  on  exhibition  in  the  Boulevard  des 
Italiens.  To  Protestants,  in  particular,  they  have  claims  which  the 
Romish  altar-pieces,  at  least,  do  not  possess.  The  latter  may  be 
idols;  the  former  are  commentaries.  Take  as  an  illustration  of 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  99 

the  former  the  famous  picture  of  the  Conception  by  Murillo,  a 
picture  for  which  the  French  government  paid  over  $100,000  at 
the  sale  of  Marshal  Soult's  gallery.  I  pass  the  exquisite  delicacy 
of  this  picture,  a  delicacy  made  still  more  refined  by  the  haziness 
— the  Indian-summerishness — of  atmosphere  with  which  the  color 
ing  is  invested.  But  with  all  this,  we  cannot  rid  ourselves  of  the 
idea  of  a  sort  of  gross  and  common  idolatry  which  underlies  this 
as  well  as  all  other  pictures  of  the  class.  Angels  are  hovering 
round  the  Madonna,  paying  to  her  all  sorts  of  obeisances,  while 
the  general  tone  of  humility  in  her  lovely  countenance  is  not  un 
mixed  with  an  expression  of  dramatic  condescension.  How  dif 
ferent  it  is  with  Ary  Scheffer's  picture  of  Mary  at  the  moment 
where  Jesus,  after  the  resurrection,  'said  unto  her,  Mary/  The 
face  is  purely  human.  It  is  that  of  one  faint  and  pale  with  watch 
ing  and  grief.  But  is  also  that  of  one  seized  with  sudden  and 
delighted  surprise.  There  is  an  immediateness  about  the  expression 
that  is  very  extraordinary.  In  other  paintings  the  faces  look  as  if 
they  had  looked  in  the  same  way  for  an  almost  indefinite  period 
before.  Even  Murillo's  virgin  seems  as  if  she  had  regularly  com 
posed  herself  for  an  audience  with  the  angels.  But  here  we  can 
almost  hear  the  lips,  in  the  ecstasy  of  sudden  recognition,  cry, 
'  Rabboni,  that  is  to  say,  master  !'  It  is  this  naturalness  that 
gives  to  Scheifer's  paintings  so  much  of  the  exegetical  character. 
And  wTith  but  one  exception,  which  I  may  notice  hereafter,  the 
tone  of  this  commentary  is  entirely  in  accordance  with  Evangelical 
teaching. 

"  With  some  of  Scheffer's  pictures  I  have  no  doubt  that  you  are 
already  acquainted.  'Christus-  Consolator/  and  'Christus  Remu- 
nerator/  have  found  their  way  into  so  many  print-shops  that  they 
have  been  accepted  by  not  a  few  of  our  countrymen  as  among  the 
truest  expositions  of  Christian  ethics. 

"  These  do  not  appear  in  the  present  collection,  though  we 
scarcely  feel  their  loss  when  we  gaze  at  the  noble  body  of  paintings 
which  remain.  Prominent  among  these  is  Christ  tempted  in  the 
wilderness,  which  arrests  the  eye  as  you  enter  the  room.  The 
conception  of  Satan,  to  my  mind,  is  not  only  very  forcible,  but 
very  new.  Two  general  notions  of  Satan  have  run  through  our 
schools  of  art.  The  first  is  that  of  Milton,  in  which  the  fallen 
angel  is  painted  as  grand,  austere  and  chivalric,  retaining  in  all  his 


100  MEMOIR   OF 

fierce  and  implacable  resistance  to  the  Most  High,  all  the  attributes 
which  we  might  invoke  to  grace  a  human  prince  who  is  conquered 
yet  not  subdued.  On  the  other  hand  we  have  the  Mephistopheles 
of  Goethe,  who  is  mean,  malignant  and  petty ;  and  who,  instead 
of  being  as  his  Miltonic  predecessor  is,  a  gentlemanly  rebel,  is 
guilty  of  all  sorts  of  small  treacheries  to  men,  while  innocent  of 
any  grand  scheme  of  resistance  to  God.  I  think  that  Scheffer's 
Satan  is  .of  a  distinct  and  far  more  scriptural  type.  His  nature  is 
double.  It  is  not  merely  the  human  rebel  sublimated  to  the 
angelic,  as  with  Milton,  nor  the  angelic  dwarfed  to  the  lowest 
grade  of  the  human,  as  with  Goethe,  but  it  is  the  angelic  and 
human  co-existing,  as  two  parallel  natures,  like  two  slides  of  a  magic 
lantern,  the  two  throwing  together  on  the  canvas  their  united  and 
yet  at  the  same  time  their  distinct  images.  Thus  we  have  it  is  true 
the  fierce  and  in  one  sense  unselfish  animosity  of  the  fiend — for  it 
is  an  animosity  which  an  infinitely  foreseeing  nature  must  know  to 
be  bootless — coupled  with  the  weakness  of  the  human.  Of  the 
latter  Scheifer  gives  us  in  this  picture  a  remarkable  trait  in  the 
expression  of  passionate  entreaty  which  grows  .over  the  face  of  the 
fallen  angel  as  he  makes  his  last  request." 

"  NEGRO  BISHOPS  FOR  AFRICA. 

"  You  have  already  noticed  Bishop  Bowen's  death.  He  fell  a 
victim,  undoubtedly,  to  a  malignant  tropical  fever  which  desolates 
the  part  of  Africa  in  which  was  his  Diocese.  His  death  was  not 
unexpected  to  himself,  and  scarcely  so  to  the  Church.  On  this  a 
Correspondent  of  the  Times  makes  a  very  strong  appeal  against 
sending  forth  any  more  white  missionaries  to  this  part  of  Africa. 
In  this  the  world  heartily  concurs.  And  yet  the  same  number  of 
the  Times  contains  abundant  notices  of  commercial  movements  to 
the  same  climates,  each  movement,  no  doubt,  abundantly  provided 
with  white  officers.  The  Christian  then,  is  to  withhold  those 
sacrifices  for  the  next  life,  which  the  man  of  the  world  thinks  a 
matter  of  course  for  this.  But  what  proof  do  we  give  of  our 
religious  convictions  if  we  permit  obstacles  to  hold  us  back,  which 
the  worshippers  of  mammon  treat  as  of  no  account  ? 

«F.  W." 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  101 

"MR.  SPURGEON  AND  HIS  PREACHING  TO  US. 

"  LONDON, il^y  £(?>J  859.  ^ 

"From  Westminster  bridge  to  Surrey  Garctens,  a  distance  >  *)f 
about  two  miles,  may  be  seen  streaming  every  Sunday^  m^rningja; 
procession  of  thousands  who  are  on  their  way  to  the  hall  where 
Mr.  Spurgeon  holds  service.  When  there,  the  scene,  to  an  Ameri 
can  eye,  is  very  striking.  The  hall  itself  is  situated  in  a  large 
public  garden.  One  hour  before  the  time  the  several  entrances 
are  surrounded  by  a  dense  crowd.  As  you  come  closer,  however, 
you  observe  that  the  crowd  divides ;  one-half  of  it  remains  outside 
until  thirty-five  minutes  before  ten,  when  the  hall  is  open  to  the 
public  generally.  The  other  half,  by  the  payment  of  a  shilling, 
obtains  admission  to  certain  preferred  seats,  which  in  fact  occupy 
about  one-half  of  the  entire  building. 

"  Let  us  enter,  however,  with  the  former  class,  at  about  a  quarter 
after  ten.  The  services  do  not  begin  until  eleven,  and  yet  we  find 
at  least  five  thousand  people  are  in  their  seats.  Each  minute  adds 
hundreds,  until  at  last,  when  the  period  arrives  for  the  admission 
of  the  public  generally,  the  immense  edifice,  capable  of  holding 
from  eight  to  ten  thousand,  is  thoroughly  crowded. 

"The  first  view  reminds  us  of  Concert  Hall,  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  as  it  was  when  occupied  by  the  congregation  of  the 
Church  of  the  Covenant.  So  far  as  concerns  the  general  aspect 
of  the  building,  as  well  as  that  of  the  congregation,  there  is  at 
the  first  sight  no  difference.  But  soon  one  or  two  distinguishing 
features  unfold  themselves.  The  room  on  Surrey  Gardens  is  twice 
the  size  of  that  on  Chestnut  street,  and  it  has  three  large  galleries. 
And  besides  this  there  is  one  noticeable  distinction  as  to  manners. 
There  is  no  superiority  of  rank  recognized  in  the  female  sex  in 
England.  In  America,  we  all  know  that  it  is  enough — I  think 
rightly  so,  supposing  a  man  to  be  in  health  sufficient  to  be  able  to 
stand  through  the  service — for  a  woman  to  stop  and  look  at  a  pew 
full  of  men,  in  which  case  the  pew  instantly  disgorges  itself.  In 
England  the  men,  in  such  a  case,  not  only  never  budge,  but  appear 
entirely  unconcerned.  In  fact,  if  there  be  a  discrimination,  it  is 
against  the  female  sex.  *  Is  there  room  for  another  on  your  bench?7 
inquired  one  of  the  church  officers.  ' Not  for  a  lady'  was  the 
reply,  and  the  only  two  things  that  excused  it  were  that  it  was 


102  MEMOIR   OF 

given  by  a  lady  herself,  and  that  the  present  feminine  costume  in 
England  as  well,  as  in  America,  takes  double  the  ordinary  sitting 
room.  V  '  */"  v  ' 

<\."  UntiL  the  Cervices  open  the  vast  congregation  waits  in  almost 
feitire^siidnce.  *  It  4s  not,  however,  a  silence  of  listlessness.  At 
least  one  person  in  every  three  has  his  Bible,  and  many  are  seen 
in  diligent  study.  At  last,  however,  a  slight  rustle  is  heard,  and 
in  a  moment  the  preacher  stands  in  his  pulpit. 

"  There  is  no  mistaking  Mr.  Spurgeon  by  any  one  who  has  seen 
his  likenesses ;  but  I  mast  add  that  at  the  distance  at  which  I  was 
placed  from  him,  which  was  that  of  about  half  the  length  of  the 
hall,  I  did  not  perceive  in  his  features  that  coarseness  which  you 
notice  in  the  American  prints.  If  you  were  to  ask  to  whom  in 
America  he  is  most  like,  I  would  say,  though  with  much  hesitation, 
to  Bishop  Clark,  of  Rhode  Island,  as  I  have  occasionally  seen  the 
latter  when  speaking  from  the  platform.  There  is  a  general,  though 
it  is  true,  slight  resemblance  of  complexion  and  figure,  and  a  more 
striking  one  in  the  tone  though  not  in  the  cadences  of  the  voice. 

"  The  service  opened  with  a  brief  though  rather  mandatory 
prayer,  which  was  followed  by  the  announcement  of  a  hymn. 
(  You  must  sing  out/  was  the  preface,  '  we  may  even  shout  our 
psalms  to  the  Lord.7  The  injunction,  though  given  in  colloquial 
words,  coupled  with  a  sketch  of  the  earnest  singing  of  the  great 
meetings  now  holding  in  Wales,  was  uttered  simply  and  impres 
sively.  It  was  obeyed.  Almost  every  one  in  that  immense  con 
gregation  sang.  The  greater  part  were  provided  with  books,  and 
besides  this  the  hymn  was  lined.  The  singing  was  very  fine, 
though  I  could  not  but  think  not  more  earnest,  than  what  I  have 
often  heard  in  the  lecture  room  of  dear  Gambier.  But  it  had, 
what  of  course  we  could  not  have  there,  a  volume  as  of  many 
waters.  The  airs  were  very  solemn  and  yet  very  catchable;  unit 
ing  as  do  so  many  of  our  most  popular  tunes,  the  Gregorian 
with  what  some  of  us  might  call  the  Methodist.  I  need  not  say 
that  the  effect  was  very  solemnizing.  It  was  a  far  nearer  approach 
to  worship  with  the  voice  as  well  as  with  the  heart,  than  I  sup 
posed  possible  on  the  part  of  so  large  a  congregation. 

"  I  regret  that  I  cannot  speak  equally  highly  of  Mr.  Spurgeou's 
way  of  reading  Scripture.  He  took  the  16th  chapter  of  Ezekiel, 
and  read  a  few  verses,  but  these  were  smothered  in  a  heterogeneous 


DE.    FEANCIS    WHAETON.  103 

mass  of  commentary  which  was  neither  very  deep  nor  very  shrewd. 
From  this  he  passed  to  another  hymn,  then  to  another  prayer, 
which  I  thought  almost  as  deficient  as  the  first  in  the  supplicatory 
tone,  and  then  came  a  sermon  from  the  text,  Ezekiel  xvi.  54. 

"  From  what  I  have  already  said  you  see  that  I  am  by  no  means 
inclined  to  give  Mr.  Spurgeon  unqualified  admiration.  This  much, 
however,  I  must  now  add,  that  for  the  purposes  of  such  a  vast 
assembly  as  he  addresses,  he  is  the  best  sermonizer  I  have  ever 
heard.  And  having  said  this  much,  you  will  permit  one,  in  view 
of  ihe  many  in  our  own  Church  whom  I  think  a  similar  culture 
might  make  almost  equally  as  useful,  to  notice  one  or  two  of  the 
qualities  by  which  his  speaking  is  marked.  What  he  says  is  extem 
poraneous,  so  far  as  extemporaneousness  means  a  disencumberment 
from  the  blinders  and  martingale  of  a  written  sermon.  But  other 
wise  it  is  not.  There  is  the  mark  of  very  careful  preparation. 
Underneath  lies  an  analysis,  none  the  less  positive  from  its  not 
being  technically  mapped  out.  On  the  whole  texture  rests  a  halo 
which  leaves  the  impress  of  closet  prayer  as  well  as  of  closet  study. 
Nor  does  the  preacher  hesitate  for  either  words  or  illustrations. 
As  it  is  in  reference  to  both  of  these  that  the  greatest  exception  is 
taken  to  his  preaching,  in  reference  to  them  I  will  say  one  or  two 
words  in  detail. 

"  Mr.  Spurgeon's  language  is  certainly  very  colloquial,  but  by 
no  means  so  much  so  as  that  of  Latimer  and  Ezekiel  Hopkins, 
whom  the  religious  world  has  always  endorsed,  and  no  more  so 
than  that  of  Kingsley,  whom  the  literary  world  has  promoted  to 
be  its  special  clerical  favorite.  Take,'  for  instance,  the  following 
passage  which  I  give  from  memory  and  which  I  select  as  the 
homeliest  in  the  whole  sermon  I  heard.  He  is  speaking  of  the 
way  in  which  the  world  criticises  the  inconsistent  professor  of 
religion.  He  quotes  the  world  as  speaking  somewhat  as  follows  : 

"  '  What  do  you  mean  by  charging  us  with  pride?  Have  you 
none  ?  Your  Doctors  of  Divinity — do  they  not  occasionally  sport 
their  titles  as  well  as  our  titled  men  sport  theirs  ?  You  talk  of 
bearing  the  cross — do  you  bear  it  except  occasionally  it  be  one 
of  gold  ?  You  talk  of  tribulation,  entering  into  the  kingdom,  but 
if  you  have  any  it  must  be  in  secret.  You  talk  of  supercilious 
ness—are  there  not  among  yourselves  sisters  in  satin,  who  consider 
it  a  meritorious  thing  in  them  to  worship  on  the  same  bench  with 


104  MEMOIR   OF 

an  unwashed  laborer  ?  You  talk  of  avarice — are  there  not  some 
among  you  who  will  make  thumb  and  finger  meet  on  the  throat 
of  a  debtor  until  they  sever  his  jugular  vein  ?' 

"  Now  had  this  been  written  for  the  press,  it  might  have  been 
desirable  to  translate  it  into  phrases  more  stately.  But  the  preacher 
meets  his  fellow  men  face  to  face,  and  it  becomes  him  to  use  that 
language  to  which  men  are  accustomed  when  thus  meeting.  We 
weary  of  an  attitude  which  is  novel  to  us,  even  though  that  atti 
tude  be  one  of  attention.  And  besides  this,  in  the  use  of  homely 
language  we  have  the  authority  of  Scripture  and  the  sanction  of 
experience.  What  preacher  of  our  own  tongue  ever  held  together 
large  crowds  of  people,  who  was  not  homely  in  his  choice  of  words  ? 

"  The  same  observation  applies,  I  think,  to  illustrations  and 
metaphors.  Of  these  Mr.  Spurgeon's  use  is  copious  and  has  at 
command  extraordinary  metaphors;  the  most  insubordinate  of  allies 
are  subjugated  and  tamed  by  him  with  a  completeness  which  is  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  of  his  gifts.  He  ventured,  in  the  ser 
mon  to  which  I  refer,  on  a  metaphor  drawn  from  the  practice  of 
the  Court  of  Chancery,  of  adding  from  time  to  time  different  de 
fendants  by  special  bill.  As  the  topic  was  technical,  and  as  I  never 
heard  of  the  speaker  having  had  a  legal  education,  I  expected  every 
moment  to  see  him  dismount  or  be  thrown.  But  it  was  not  so,  for 
he  kept  his  control  of  the  metaphor  until  it  answered  his  purpose, 
which  it  did  perfectly,  and  then  dismissed  it. 

"  Then  with  regard  to  illustrations.  He  told  the  following  with 
great  effect.  I  give  it  as  one  which  I  think  we  can  all  apply  to 
ourselves.  The  object  of  the  sermon,  let  it  be  recollected,  was  to 
show  the  mischief  of  inconsistency  among  Christians  : 

"  '  A  clergyman  once  preached  a  very  awakening  sermon.  A 
young  man  who  was  in  the  congregation,  was  much  impressed,  and 
finding  that  the  clergyman  was  to  walk  some  distance  home,  joined 
him,  in  the  hope  of  having  some  conversation  as  to  how  to  be  saved. 
The  clergyman  was  walking  with  several  others,  and  instead  of  the 
conversation  turning  on  religious  matters,  it  was  light  and  even 
indecorous.  Some  years  afterwards  the  clergyman  was  called  to 
see  a  dying  man  in  an  inn.  As  he  entered  the  room,  the  dying 
man  started.  i  Sir/  said  he,  '  I  have  heard  you  preach.'  '  Thank 
God  for  that/  said  the  clergyman.  '  But,  Sir/  continued  the  man, 
'  I  have  heard  you  talk,  and  your  talking  has  ruined  my  soul.  Yes, 


DE.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  105 

Sir,  do  you  remember  that  day  when  you  preached  from  that  text  ? 
That  sermon  brought  conviction  to  my  heart.  But  I  sought  a 
conversation  with  you,  and  I  walked  home  with  you,  hoping  to 
hear  something  about  my  soul's  peace,  but  you  trifled — trifled — 
trifled!  Yes,  so  you  did,  and  I  went  home  believing  that  you 
knew  all  the  solemn  things  you  said  in  the  morning  were  lies. 
For  years  I,  was  an  infidel,  but  now,  now  I  am  dying,  I  am  one 
no  longer.  But  I  am  not  saved — I  have  hated  and  now  hate,  and 
you  did  it.  I  will  meet  and  accuse  you  before  the  bar  of  God/ 
And  so  the  man  died.7 

"Now,  you  ask  how  was  this,  and  passages  equally  solemn, 
delivered?  I  answer,  in  a  tone  almost  entirely  conversational, 
without  a  single  eruption  of  that  rant,  by  which  our  extempora 
neous  speakers  sometimes  break  their  force.  It  is  true  that  Mr. 
Spurgeon's  articulation  is  perfect,  that  his  voice  is  sweet,  clear, 
and  strong,  and  that  his  cadences  are  such  that  not  a  single  word 
is  dropped.  But  I  am  confident  that  by  adopting  the  same  con 
versational,  simple,  earnest  manner,  even  weak  voices  could  be  so 
used  as  to  equally  enchain  the  attention. 

"  But,  after  all,  I  have  given  but  a  sketch  of  the  mechanism  by 
which  Mr.  Spurgeon's  great  pulpit  success  is  produced.  The  mov 
ing  power  is  above  this.  It  is  not  genius,  for  to  this  Mr.  Spurgeon 
cannot  lay  claim.  His  gifts  are  certainly  much  above  the  average, 
but  still  not  so  much  so  as  to  achieve  for  him  distinction  inde 
pendently  of  the  subject  matter  on  which  they  act.  That  subject 
matter,  which  he  applies  with  such  tremendous  power,  is  the  doc 
trines  of  grace  as  taught  in  the  articles  of  our  own  Episcopal 
Church.  And  I  draw  from  this,  that  if  those  doctrines  are  ex 
pounded  with  equal  earnestness  and  simplicity,  like  results,  though 
of  course  in  a  circle  varying  with  the  speaker's  intellectual  and 
elocutionary  powrers,  will  follow. 

"  One  Avord  more  as  to  the  blemish  I  have  noticed  in  Mr.  Spur 
geon's  services.  I  am  clear  that  had  a  short  liturgical  exercise 
taken  the  place  of  at  least  his  main  prayer,  the  effect  would  have 
been  more  solemn,  more  devotional,  more  permanent.  Such  is  the 
usage  adopted  in  the  working  men's  meetings,  held  in  Exeter  Hall, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Bishop  of  London.  Of  one  of  these 
meetings — the  most  impressive  service  I  think  I  have  ever  attended 

— I  will  speak  in  another  letter. 

"F.  W." 


106  MEMOIR   OF 

"ZURICH,  July  28,  1859. 

"I  am  now  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  diplomatic  vortex  by 
which  the  politics  of  Europe  are  convulsed.  The  peace  congress 
meets  here  next  week.  Already  some  of  its  outriders  have  arrived. 
On  looking  over  the  names  registered  in  the  very  noble  hotel  where 
I  am  writing — the  Hotel  Baur  Sur  Lac — I  see  at  least  one  name 
distinguished  in  former  diplomatic  contests.  It  is  that  of  a  Russian 
princess,  who,  having  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  pacification 
of  Vienne,  now  is  ready  to  take  a  hand  at  that  of  Zurich.  And 
let  me  remark  that  those  who  charge  feminine  strong-mindedness 
with  being  an  American  innovation,  should  be  reminded  that  it  is 
an  European  institution. — The  peace  treaty  which  settled  the  origi 
nal  boundaries  of  Holland,  after  the  establishment  of  her  freedom, 
was  negotiated  by  women,  and  was  called  thence  the  ( Ladies'  peace. 
That  which  restored  Erancis  I.,  after  the  battle  of  Pavia,  was  nego 
tiated  in  the  same  way.  Charles  V.  employed  his  sisters  and  his 
daughters  in  his  most  important  offices.  And  now,  as  in  1820, 
ladies  stand  behind  the  nominal  leaders,  often  directing  their  moves. 

"  Then  as  to  the  "peace  itself.  Writing  as  I  now  do  for  your 
columns,  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  view  it  politically,  but  this 
much  I  may  say  in  passing,  that  I  still  think  that  the  preliminaries 
are  a  move  in  advance.  It  is  true  that  Italy  is  in  a  ferment  of 
irritation.  It  is  true,  also,  that  in  England,  those  who  were  the 
bitterest  in  charging  the  Erench  Emperor  with  rapacity  in  going  to 
war,  are  now  twitting  him  with  his  greenness  in  making  so  mode 
rate  a  peace.  It  is  true  that  deeper  than  this  there  lies  a  feeling  of 
profound  disquiet  in  the  English  breast,  as  to  what  may  be  the 
next  move  of  this  mysterious  potentate,  who  has  now  obtained  the 
control  of  the  camp  as  well  as  the  councils  of  Europe.  For  myself 
I  have  another  impression,  and  that  is  that  the  vice  of  the  peace  is 
the  perfidy  that  underlies  it,  not  to  governments  or  princes,  but  to 
men  as  individuals.  These,  subjects  as  they  might  be,  and  without 
any  corporate  existence,  the  emperor  did  not  hesitate  to  invoke  to 
carry  out  the  war.  He  could  engage  with  Kossuth  to  arouse 
Hungary;  he  could  stimulate  the  middle  provinces  of  Italy  to  cast 
off  their  governments ;  he  could  negotiate  with  Garibaldi.  But 
when  peace  comes,  he  finds  that  those  whom  it  was  not  below  his 
notice  to  fight  with,  are  now  below  his  notice  to  keep  faith  with. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  107 

I  and  the  Austrian  Emperor;  I  and  the  Sardinian  King ;  but  not 
I  and  the  vast  bodies  of  men  whom  I  invoked  to  insurrection. 
Now  what  I  fear  is,  that  while  Napoleon  III.  piques  himself  on 
his  gallant  fidelity  to  his  promises  to  princes,  he  considers  peoples' 
as  not  entitled  to  such  immunities.  He  broke  his  oath  to  the 
French  people  to  sustain  the  republican  constitution.  He  has  now 
broken  hia  pledges  to  the  Italians,  who  flocked  to  him  in  his  Aus 
trian  campaigns. 

"And  yet  with  all  this,  I  must  think  that  the  peace  is  a  gain  to 
the  cause  of  humanity  and  religion.  It  will  not — and  this  is  the 
general  opinion  among  those  best  informed — restore  the  Austrian 
Arch-dukes  in  central  Italy.  It  will  leave  Austria  in  a  small 
minority  in  the  new  confederacy.  It  secularizes  the  Pope.  Giant 
despair  will  have  to  come  down  from  the  cannon-mounted  fortress 
of  prerogative,  and  meet  other  men  as  his  peers  on  the  open  plain. 
So  much  as  to  religion.  And  then  as  to  liberty.  I  question  whether 
a  republic  could  possibly  stand  in  Italy  over  a  month ;  and  whether, 
after  all,  the  best  she  can  have  is  not  a  strong  government,  acting 
on  a  liberal  policy  as  to  education  and  religion. 

"LORD  SHAFTESBURY,  MR.  KINGSLEY,  AND  ALMAOKS. 

"An  advertisement  in  the  Times,  last  week,  announced  that  on 
that  day  (Thursday,  July  20),  the  '  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Sanitary  Knowledge/  which,  after  all,  is  only  a  society  to  tell 
mothers  how  best  to  treat  sick  children,  would  hold  an  anniversary 
meeting.  The  names  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  Mr.  Kingsley,  and  Mr. 
Maurice,  who  were  advertised  as  speakers,  brought  me  to  the  hall 
at  the  hour  appointed.  As  I  entered  the  room,  there  was  a  sort  of 
faded  finery  about  it  that  told  of  a  world,  very  different  from  that 
whose  sympathies  Avere  nominally  invoked  that  morning.  The 
walls  were  interspersed  with  pictures  of  graces,  in  light  pink  and 
blue  gauzes,  now  made  still  gauzier  by  the  effacing  hand  of  time, 
skipping  about  in  dances,  or  holding  in  their  hands  what  I  suppose 
were  some  kinds  of  instruments  of  music.  The  short-waisted  and 
convolvulus-shaped  skirts,  the  postures  and  styles  of  dances,  all 
told  of  about  sixty  or  seventy  years  back.  Could  they  have  told 
more,  they  would  have  narrated  a  story  to  which  the  world  would 
listen  with  that  eager  attention,  which  the  fashion  of  the  present 


108  MEMOIR   OF 

gives  to  the  history  of  the  fashion  of  the  past.  For  here  was  the 
old  seat  of  Almacks.  Here  struggled,  with  a  bitterness  greater 
than  that  of  the  political  chiefs  whom  they  followed,  the  rival 
duchesses  of  Rutland  and  of  Devonshire.  To  the  gates  of  this 
room  hurried  thousands  with  a  devotedness  equal  to  that  of  the 
worshippers  of  Juggernaut.  All  these  are  now  in  their  graves. 
Now,  however,  the  scene  has  changed.  Of  all  meetings  of  respec 
table  ladies'  societies  that  I  have  ever  seen,  this  was  one  of  the  most 
sedate  and  subdued.  Even  one  of  our  own  children's  homes  or 
Dorcas  meetings  could  not  have  presented  a  greater  contrast  to  the 
old  Almacks  than  did  this.  There  were  about  one  hundred  ladies 
present,  most  of  them  of  mature  years.  And  the  very  few  men 
whom  I  could  see  sat  in  the  back-ground,  as  if  in  cheerful  submis 
sion  to  feminine  supremacy  in  this,  its  proper  sphere. 

"Lord  Shaftesbury,  who  took  the  chair,  is  well  known  in  America 
as  the  leader  of  the  evangelical  interest  in  the  Anglican  Church. 
For  such  a  post  he  has  peculiar  qualifications.  His  courage  and 
his  consistency  are  as  unquestioned  as  his  piety.  And  he  has,  what 
in  England  is  of  much  importance,  not  only  political  weight  but 
patrician  dignity.  His  noble  ancestry  gives  him  the  second,  and 
his  connection  writh  Lord  Palmerston  the  first.  He  married  a 
daughter  of  Lady  Palmerston,  and  has  been  thus  brought  into 
close  connection  with  that  remarkable  man  who,  having,  in  the 
course  of  fifty  years,  taken  part  in  nearly  every  administration  by 
which  England  has  been  governed,  now  occupies,  for  a  second 
time,  the  post  of  Prime  Minister.  It  is  to  Lord  Shaftesbury's  in 
fluence  that  Lord  Palmerston's  excellent  ecclesiastical  appoint 
ments  are  generally  traced.  Lord  Shaftesbury  did  not  appear  to 
me  to  be  much  over  fifty.  He  is  tall,  slender  and  was  dressed 
in  that  plain  and  informal  manner  by  which  English  gentlemen 
are  marked.  For  this  kind  of  dress,  I  may  observe  in  passing, 
there  are  one  or  two  reasons  besides  taste.  The  damp  climate  pre 
scribes  thick  t\veeds,  and  banishes,  except  for  evenings,  the  glossy 
and  dapper  black  broad  cloths,  which  are  so  uniform  among  our 
selves.  But  I  can  see  another  reason  for  this  plainness  among  the 
higher  classes.  What  might  be  called  fine  dressing  among  the 
men,  is  not  only  monopolized,  but  made  ridiculous  by  the  footmen. 
An  American  cannot  look  at  the  more  exuberant  specimens  of  this 
class  without  a  smile :  A  wig  whose  circumference  is  edged  by  long 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  109 

ridges  of  crisp  white  well  powdered  curls — a  nappy  black  broad 
cloth  frock  or  dress  coat  and  trowsers  to  match — a  shining  white 
waistcoat — these,  by  their  very  absurdity,  seem  to  exclude  the 
dress  they  caricature  from  general  morning  use. 

"  The  audience  whom  Lord  Shaftesbury  addressed  was  one  al 
most  exclusively  of  ladies,  and  what  he  was  to  speak  to  them  about 
was  what  is  peculiarly  woman's  work.  He  stood  up  behind  a 
small  table,  and,  hat  in  hand,  began  to  talk  to  his  audience  in  that 
hesitating  manner  by  which  English  public  speaking  is  so  often 
marked.  At  first  he  was  not  well  heard,  but  a  hint  was  given  to 
him  of  this,  and  he  raised  his  voice  to  a  tone  which,  though  con 
versational,  enabled  him,  without  eifort  and  with  increasing  ease, 
to  fill  the  whole  room. 

"What  he  said  was  eminently  feasible  and  practical.  It  was 
the  peculiar  duty  of  women,  he  declared,  to  teach  women.  Without 
the  practical  instruction  which  could  so  easily  be  given  as  to  the 
best  way  of  securing  cleanliness  and  health,  the  gift  of  money 
would  be  comparatively  useless.  He  mentioned  the  case  of  a 
parish,  in  which,  by  the  introduction  of  white-washing,  the  number 
of  dispensary  cases  had  been  reduced  eight  hundred.  He  advised 
the  extension  of  what  were  called  '  Mothers'  Meetings,'  in  which 
mothers  were  instructed  as  to  the  best  way  of  nursing  children. 
He  touched  upon  several  injurious  usages,  one  of  which  was  the 
bench  without  a  back,  and  another  the  velocipedes,  in  which 
very  often  a  robust  child  was  made  to  play  baby,  and  a  delicate 
sister  to  act  horse.  He  closed  by  urging  the  advantages  of  a 
scheme  such  as  this  as  a  means  of  introducing  the  gospel,  and 
at  the  same  time  its  uselessuess  unless  the  gospel  be  made  its 
accompaniment. 

"  Mr.  Kingsley  was  next  announced,  and,  you  may  easily  sup 
pose,  at  once  arrested  my  attention.  My  first  idea  was  that  he  was 
about  thirty-five,  though  I  have  since  been  told  that  he  is  much 
older.  His  hair  is  raven  black ;  his  figure  slight  and  slim ;  his 
eyes  of  a  light  blue,  in  marked  contrast  with  his  hair ;  his  voice 
hard  though  clear.  I  think  I  have  rarely  seen  a  manner  which 
was,  at  the  first  sight,  worse.  He  writhed  and  twisted  his  naturally 
good  shape  into  all  sorts  of  outlandish  attitudes.  He  let  his  voice 
out  in  wreathes  and  snorts  like  steam.  Soon,  however,  this 
agonizing  consciousness  was  lost,  at  least  on  the  part  of  the  hearer. 


110  MEMOIR   OF 

Thought  after  thought,  as  it  escaped  from  the  struggling  engine 
below,  wreathed  itself  like  the  steam-puffs  that  we  sometimes  see 
on  a  clear  day,  in  symbols  of  beauty  above.  That  what  Mr. 
Kingsley  said  had  a  good  deal  in  it  of  what  we  would  call  strong- 
mindedness  in  our  own  country — that  it  had  a  good  deal  of  that 
affected  humanitarianism  which  distinguishes  the  Boston  senti 
mental  philanthropists  of  Unitarianism,  I  do  not  dispute.  But 
there  was  occasionally  a  thought  of  great  energy  and  sense  that  de 
manded  our  respect.  It  is  true  that  here,  as  well  as  in  his  writings, 
he  gave  the  text  of  Scripture  an  occasional  extraordinary  material 
istic  wrench.  Thus  he  interpreted  :  ( My  father  will  not  suifer  one 
of  these  little  ones  to  perish/  to  mean  that  he  will  not  suffer  one 
of  them  to  be  dwarfed  or  destroyed  by  unkindness  or  maltreat 
ment.  One  thought  he  pressed  with  great  beauty.  It  was  that 
the  death  of  an  old  man  might  be  tolerated,  for  that  was  in  the 
course  of  nature;  the  death  of  a  soldier  on  the  battle-field  might 
be  tolerated,  for  that  was  voluntary,  and  with  the  previously  ac 
cepted  compensation  of  fame ;  the  death  of  a  mature  man  might 
be  tolerated,  for  he  had  in  some  sense  measured  his  course ;  but 
the  death  of  a  young  child  had  an  awfulness  about  it  from  its  re 
pugnance  to  God's  own  appointment  of  probation,  and  from  its 
almost  universal  connection  with  that  carelessness  which  generates 
disease.  War,  he  said,  had  its  courtesies,  but  not  so  the  pestilence 
which  man's  selfishness  generates.  The  first  spares  women  and 
children  ;  not  the  second.  You  have  given  us  your  peace  society 
against  war:  now  give  us  your  peace  society  against  disease. 

"NO   AFRICAN    BLACK   BISHOPS. 

"  The  point  I  mentioned  to  you  in  my  last,  as  having  been  for 
mally  agitated  by  the  Times,  has  received  a  decisive  solution.  The 
Church  Missionary  Society  has  examined  it  fully,  and  made  a  report 
last  week  through  Mr.  Venn.  They  take  ground  against  the  policy  of 
consecrating  black  Bishops  for  an  Anglican  Colonial  church.  They 
say  that  they  see  no  objection  to  transmitting  the  Episcopate  entire, 
when  the  time  arrives,  to  an  independent  African  Church.  But 
they  urge  that  while  the  Church  remains  colonial,  it  is  better  that 
its  chief  minister  should  be  a  white  of  Anglican  descent.  They 
add  that  they  have  consulted  in  this  the  colonial  clergymen  of 
Sierra  Leone,  and  that  they  agree  in  the  report. — I  cannot  but 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  Ill 

think  that  this  takes  from  our  English  brethren  a  good  part  of  the 
edge  of  the  weapons  they  have  so  often  used  against  us.  Beyond 
this  position  our  Church  certainly  has  never  gone ;  and  in  the 
ordination  of  priests,  all  her  sections  have  testified  their  Catholicity 
of  feeling  in  the  ordination  by  common  consent  of  natives  of  China 

and  West  Africa. 

"F.  W." 

*i 

"  MILAN,  Aug.  3,  1859. 
"SWISS   MOUNTAIN   WORSHIP. 

"  The  little  village  of  Thusis  derives  its  name  from  a  colony  of 
Tuscans,  who  are  supposed,  at  a  period  early  in  Roman  history,  to 
have  fled  across  the  Alps  and  taken  refuge  in  this  spot.  The  Nolla, 
one  of  the  first  tributaries  of  the  Rhine,  gives  that  river  a  gray, 
soap-stone  hue,  which  is  drawn  from  a  range  of  mountains  which 
here  arise.  Thusis  exhibits  in  a  close  and  yet  repellant  contiguity, 
the  features  of  alpine  and  valley  scenery.  On  one  side  lies  a  broad 
and  velvet-like  sweep  of  lawn,  which  even  a  park  on  the  Isle  of 
Wight  might  envy.  On  the  other  side,  the  advance  guards  of  the 
Alps  slant  forward  their  austere  heads,  as  if  stooping  over  to  gaze 
on  the  calm  valley  before  them. 

"But  the  alternations  of  scenery  around  Thusis  are  not  so  re 
markable  as  the  alternation  of  faith.  The  storms  of  the  Reforma 
tion  here  rent  asunder  people  with  as  fierce  and  final  a  blow  as  those 
by  which  the  mountains  are  severed. 

'  A  gloomy  stream  now  flows  between, 

But  neither  hail,  nor  storm,  nor  thunder, 
Can  do  away,  I  ween, 

The  marks  of  that  which  once  has  been !' 

"  At  Chur,  which  is  a  short  drive  of  two  hours  from  Thusis,  the 
German  language  and  the  Calvinistic  faith  prevail.  At  Ems, 
separated  from  Chur  only  by  a  slender  tributary  of  the  Rhine,  we 
have  the  Romaic  dialect  and  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  Reichen- 
hau  is  German  and  Calvinistic;  Bonadus,  Romaic  and  Roman 
Catholic;  Thusis,  German  and  Calvinistic.  It  is  of  the  last-named 
place  that  I  now  write. 

"  It  is  ten  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning.  The  bell  in  the  church 
by  our  side,  as  well  as  that  in  ZiUis,  is  ringing  just  in  the  same 


112  MEMOIR   OF 

way  as  our  bells  in  Philadelphia,  which  is  very  different  from  the 
more  tinny  and  flatter  sound  of  the  convent  bells  of  the  Romish 
Churches  on  the  continent.  When  we  enter,  the  church  is  quite 
full.  Outside,  like  most  of  the  Swiss  Protestant  Churches,  it  is 
shaped  like  a  New  England  meeting-house,  with  a  pepper-box 
tower  in  front,  and  an  oblong  body,  distinguished,  however,  by  a 
deep  chancel.  The  congregation  is  a  large  one,  and  comprises  the 
whole  village.  The  men  and  women  sit  on  opposite  sides,  and  the 
children  are  collected  by  themselves  in  the  chancel,  facing  the  con 
gregation.  The  spectacle,  to  an  American  eye,  is  very  novel.  The 
younger  women  have  their  heads  bare,  and  the  elder  wear  merely  a 
knit  cap.  The  men  are  dressed  very  plainly,  and  are  most  of  them 
of  the  lowest  order  of  peasants.  That  many  of  them  come  from  a 
distance,  I  think  is  evidenced  by  the  number  of  shepherd's  and 
other  dogs  that  skirmish  about  under  the  seats,  most  of  them,  I 
regret  to  say,  engaged  in  warfare  with  the  fleas,  which  form  so 
serious  a  drawback  to  Swiss  travel. 

"  Precisely  as  the  bell  stops  ringing,  the  minister  takes  his  seat 
in  the  pulpit.  He  is  a  thick -set  young  man,  perhaps  of  about 
thirty.  His  clerical  dress  may  be  better  described  as  a  jacket  than 
a  gown,  for  it  stops  about  his  waist,  while  it  is  adorned  with  two 
hunches  like  shoulder  knots  on  the  shoulders.  The  old  Geneva 
skull-cap  he  does  not  wear,  nor  has  he  any  other  badges  indicating 
the  clerical  profession. 

"The  service  is  begun  with  a  hymn,  which  we  were  not  slow  to 
recognize  as  Old  Hundred,  which  is  admirably  sun'g  by  the  whole 
congregation,  sustained  by  an  organ,  which  plays,  however,  nothing 
but  the  air.  Then  the  minister  reads  from  a  book,  the  people 
standing,  a  confession  very  similar  to  that  which  begins  our  prayer 
book,  with  a  brief  liturgical  service.  Then  comes  another  hymn, 
then  a  small  portion  of  Scriptures,  and  then  a  short  sermon  in  the 
German,  though  with  a  dash  of  provincialism  which  increased  my 
difficulty  in  understanding  what  he  said.  But  in  the  main,  it  was 
a  practical  and  faithful  application  of  St.  Paul's  doctrine,  that 
those  who  are  freed  from  the  law  through  faith,  ought  nevertheless 
to  fulfil  all  the  injunctions  of  the  law  in  the  spirit.  And  this  I 
may  say,  that  a  more  earnest  congregation  I  have  never  seen  than 
that  which  was  here  collected  in  this  Alpine  Swiss  church.  Here, 
the  faith  has  been  preserved  pure,  and  it  shows  its  result  in  the 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  113 

simplicity  of  the  people.  Poor,  they  undoubtedly  are,  for  they 
inhabit  but  a  miserable  ledge  of  soil.  But  this  poverty,  by  its 
separation  from  its  ordinary  incidents  of  vice  and  pauperism,  indi 
cates  how  energetic  is  the  faith  by  which  it  is  here  enlightened. 

"  Crossing  the  Alps  has  been  already  often  described  in  your 
columns  by  pens  far  abler  than  mine.  It  has  been  my  lot  to  ascend 
most  of  th£  mountain  ranges  in  our  own  country.  Of  these,  the 
White  Mountains  alone  give  a  standard  with  which  the  Alps  may 
be  estimated.  The  Alleghanies  are  a  series  of  well  rounded  slopes  ; 
the  Rocky  Mountains  a  vast,  desolate,  and  uninhabitable  chain  of 
rocks.  Unlike  the  Alleghanies,  the  Alps  push  their  rugged  and 
bare  heads  far  above  the  region  of  vegetation.  On  some  of  their 
summits  lies  perpetual  snow.  They  extend  their  giant  limbs  in 
shapes  the  wildest  and  most  distorted  ;  a  precipice  of  five  hundred 
feet  protruding  over  us  in  one  direction,  a  deep  ravine  gaping  up 
towards  us  in  a  second,  and  a  cataract  of  Niagara  height  dashing 
by  us  in  a  third.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Alps  differ  from  the 
Rocky  Mountains  in  the  excessive  beauty  of  their  valleys,  in  the 
rich  cultivation  by  which  their  ledges  are  made  productive,  and  in 
the  number  of  the  villas,  villages,  and  castles  by  which  they  are 
studded. 


"  But  I  pass  these  more  obvious  features,  to  notice  one  or  two 
which  fall  more  within  your  particular  range.  The  first  is  the 
testimony  paid  by  these  mountains,  and  by  the  slopes  which  sur 
round  them,  to  the  existence  of  a  religious  sense.  Stupendous 
works  have  been  here  done,  but  the  most  stupendous  of  all  have 
been  done  for  religion.  Superb  post  roads,  with  bridges  like  those 
of  our  most  substantial  railways,  span  the  Alps,  but  these  roads 
are  less  expensive,  were  wrought  with  far  less  self-denial  and  vol 
untary  grinding  labor,  than  the  chapels,  the  churches,  and  the 
cathedrals,  which  we  meet  on  every  side.  Nowhere  do  we  find 
greater  proof  that  man  knows  himself  alienated  from  his  God  ; 
that  he  feels  the  agony  of  this  banishment ;  that  in  his  own  blind 
way  he  seeks  to  find  a  home,  by  splendid  decorations  and  by  superb 
architecture,  in  which  this  God  will  condescend  to  dwell  near  men. 
But  he  does  this  with  a  conscience  so  depraved,  and  perceptions  so 
debased,  that  the  most  splendid  temple  he  erects,  and  the  most  im- 


114  MEMOIR   OF 

posing  worship  he  offers,  are  suited  only  to  a  deity  as  narrow  and 
weak  as  himself. 

"  I  speak  not  now  of  the  Swiss  Protestant  churches.  They  are 
plain,  simple,  and  reverent,  suitable  places  for  the  worship  of  him 
who  is  a  Spirit  and  who  is  to  be  worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 
I  pass,  also,  the  magnificent  Cathedral  of  Milan,  under  whose 
shadow  I  now  write,  and  which,  while  it  cost  more  than  all  the 
four  hundred  churches  in  Philadelphia  put  together,  has  a  Sunday 
congregation  not  equal  to  one  of  our  average  Sunday  schools.  Let 
us  go  from  these,  the  grander  effects  of  this  sense  of  banishment 
from  God,  and  of  a  blind  striving  to  propitiate  him  by  human 
gifts,  to  the  wayside  oratories  by  which  the  roads  are  marked.  To 
a  stranger  these  are  among  the  most  remarkable  proofs  that  we  are 
passing  from  a  Protestant  to  a  Romish  country.  There  they  stand, 
one  almost  every  half  a  mile.  A  little  stone  mausoleum,  of  about 
ten  feet  high  and  six  deep,  contains  in  its  recess  a  tawdrily-painted 
image  of  the  virgin  and  child,  which  is  protected  by  an  iron  rail 
ing,  in  front  of  which  are  altar  steps.  But,  alas  !  it  is  the  Madonna 
who  predominates  over  everything,  and  the  Madonna  in  the  least 
spiritual  of  shapes,  spangled  and  satinned  over  as  if  going  to  a  fete. 
I  do  not  recollect  seeing  any  worshippers  at  these  shrines.  But  be 
this  as  it  may,  you  will  find  nowhere  else  a  more  idle  and  degraded 
looking  people.  It  is  not  because  the  soil  is  bad,  as  is  the  case  in 
a  great  part  of  Switzerland,  nor  is  it  entirely  on  account  of  the 
numerous  holidays  which  the  Church  requires  to  be  kept  undese- 
crated  by  labor.  But  I  think  the  reason  of  this,  and  of  the  political 
imbecility  of  the  people,  is  to  be  found  in  the  way  in  which  the 
religion  of  the  land,  instead  of  elevating  the  soul  to  heaven,  lowers 
it  below  earth. 


"  As  soon  as  you  descend  into  Lombardy,  you  become  painfully 
struck  by  the  appearance  of  the  priests.  In  France  they  have  the 
look  of  polished  though  decorous  men  of  the  world  ;  in  Germany,  of 
benevolent  old  fogies ;  and  in  both  these  countries  they  appear  but 
rarely,  and  also  with  a  subdued  demeanor,  as  of  men  walking  among 
their  equals.  But  in  Italy,  notwithstanding  their  recent  rebuffs  and 
the  hatred  borne  towards  them  by  the  body  of  the  people,  they  infest 
the  streets,  and  stalk  about  with  an  air  of  insolent  superiority,  in 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  115 

which  there  is  neither  courtesy  nor  kindness.  Such  is  their  general 
cast,  though  there  are  of  course  many  varieties.  Thus  yesterday, 
in  steaming  through  the  Lake  of  Como,  besides  a  number  of  the 
class  I  have  described,  there  were  two  or  three  exceptions  which 
particularly  attracted  my  attention.  One  was  a  very  jolly  and  fat 
old  priest,  who  smoked  his  cigar,  chatted  pleasantly  with  the  cap 
tain,  and-*  looked  with  a  sort  of  scowl  on  the  crowd  of  invalid 
French  officers,  of  Sardinian  free-booters  and  of  American  heretics, 
who  occupied  the  rear  of  the  boat.  But  still  more  striking  were 
two  Capuchin  monks.  Their  heads  were  bare,  though  the  sun  was 
beating  on  them  with  all  the  force  of  an  Italian  August. — -Wooden 
sandals  were  the  only  protection  of  their  feet.  Their  bodies  were 
covered  by  loose  sacks  of  coarse,  reddish,  brown- worsted,  girdled 
only  by  a  rope  round  the  waist.  The  elder  of  them  was  about 
fifty,  with  a  countenance  furrowed  by  exposure  and  suffering,  but 
marked  with  a  dignity  far  different  from  the  superciliousness  of 
his  neighbors  of  the  regular  priesthood.  The  other  was  scarcely 
twenty-five.  Lank,  emaciated  and  brown,  he  had  a  haggard  and 
agonizing  expression,  which  those  alone  can  appreciate  who  recollect 
AVilkie's  picture  of  the  young  Spanish  monk  on  his  knees  seeking 
solace  from  his  superior.  In  that  picture  we  have  exhibited  the 
vehement  strivings  of  a  heart  which  is  shaken  to  its  depths,  by 
passions  and  aspirations  to  which  the  cloister  opposes  a  menacing 
bar.  He  had  tried  to  extinguish  them  but  in  vain.  They  storm 
the  more  violently  than  ever,  for  they  are  in  part  the  natural  in 
stincts  of  the  human  breast  for  society,  and  their  enthralment, 
while  it  increases  their  waywardness,  increases  their  powers.  He 
sinks  on  his  knees,  and  piteously  implores  his  director  for  succor 
and  comfort,  his  countenance  showing  the  intensity  of  the  struggle 
going  on  underneath  between  the  religious  and  the  social  instincts. — 
Such,  I  cannot  but  think,  was  the  expression  of  the  young  Capuchin 
whom  I  met  yesterday  on  Lake  Como. 

"  Let  me  add  that  the  arrogance  of  the  regular  priests  is  met  by 
a  bitter  hate  or  contemptuous  ridicule  on  the  part  of  the  great  body 
of  the  people.  Thus  at  Chiavennia,  the  main  hotel,  where  the 
great  body  of  travelers  going  across  the  Alps  from  Milan  stop,  the 
walls  were  distinguished  by  pictures  exhibiting  priests  in  the  most 
ridiculous  and  indecorous  lights.  There  was  a  priest  gormandizing 
on  a  fast-day  on  all  sorts  of  stealthy  dainties ;  there  was  a  priest 


MEMOIR   OF       ,;- 

amazing  even  a  trooper  by  the  largeness  of  his  potations ;  there 
was  a  priest  eloping  under  circumstances  still  more  discreditable. 
Is  there  a  section  of  our  own  country  where  such  treatment  of  the 
clergy  even  of  the  Romish  Church — to  say  nothing  of  the  Prot 
estant — would  be  tolerated  ? 

"F.  W." 

"BATTLE  FIELDS. 

"  That  flat,  prairie  like  plain,  that  stretches  for  miles  on  each 
side  of  us,  is  Marengo,  and  there  Napoleon  I.  won  his  first  great 
victory  over  Austria.  And  there,  a  few  miles  to  the  East  is  the 
river  Ticino,  scarcely  wider  than  the  Yernon  river  at  Gambier, 
but  from  its  emerald  clearness,  and  the  babbling  haste  with  which 
it  is  scampering  down  its  bed,  much  more  like  one  of  our  Alle- 
ghany  mountain  streams.  Well  indeed,  may  it  seem  burdened 
with  many  a  message,  for  it  has  lately  witnessed  many  strange 
scenes.  A  few  weeks  ago  its  waters  were  red  with  blood.  Not 
far  from  its  banks  lies  Magenta,  where  let  us  for  a  moment  stop. 
There  is  the  spot  where  the  Austrians  were  driven  into  the  town, 
made  a  final  stand,  and  in  that  cemetery  followed  a  desperate  con 
flict  in  which  the  ground  was  strewed  with  corpses.  And  there, 
still  further  on,  where  you  see  the  houses  riddled  with  cannon  and 
rifle  balls,  is  the  place  where  the  Zouaves  made  their  last  desper 
ate  but  successful  charge.  Not  far  off  is  the  point  where  the 
French  general,  Espinasse,  breathed  his  last.  One  mourner  I  saw 
there  who  told  us  that  fidelity  does«not  belong  to  man  alone.  A 
large  brown  dog,  with  a  medal  round  his  neck,  was  wandering 
about  as  if  in  search  of  something.  He  belonged  to  the  General, 
and  having  seen  his  master  last  at  that  spot,  has  since  then  kept 
watch  for  his  return.  The  remains  of  the  General  were  a  short 
time  since  removed  to  France,  and  his  family  sent  out  orders  to 
have  the  dog  brought  after  them.  But  this  faithful  companion 
knew  not  that  all  that  remained  of  him  whom  he  loved  had  gone 
before ;  and  he'  broke  loose  at  a  railway  station  where  his  guard 
took  him  out  to  water.  A  few  days  afterwards  he  was  found  with 
his  broken  chain,  at  Magenta,  at  the  very  place  where  his  master 
had  fallen. 


DK.  FRANCIS  WHARTON.  117 

"THE  CATHEDRAL  AND  THE  LIVING  HERO. 

"  Sunday,  August  8th,  was  the  day  appointed  by  Victor  Emman 
uel  for  his  triumphant  entrance  into  Milan,  the  capital  of  Lom- 
bardy,  which  now  for  the  first  time  he  visits  after  it  was  assigned 
to  him  by  the  peace  of  Villa  Franca.  I  was  at  Milan  at  the  time, 
and  though  the  want  of  any  Protestant  place  of  worship  kept  me 
very  much  in  my  hotel,  yet  the  demonstrativeness  of  the  Milanese 
left  no  doubt  as  to  what  was  going  on.  I  may  here  remark,  in 
passing,  that  one  of  the  most  difficult  sacrifices  which  an  earnest 
Protestant  is  compelled  to  make,  is  that  of  abstaining  from  visits  to 
the  Romish  churches  on  Sunday.  When  we  have  no  other  place 
of  worship  open  to  us,  oar  heart  yearns  for  one  so  splendid  in  its 
decorations,  so  fascinating  in  its  music,  and  at  the  same  time  nomi 
nally,  at  least,  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  same  Lord.  Many 
Americans — differing  in  this  from  their  sturdier  English  brethren — 
yield  to  this  temptation,  and  often  think  that  they  can  do  so  with  a 
devotional  temper — I  do  not  speak  at  all  for  such ;  but  for  myself 
I  cannot  but  feel  that  these  churches,  on  Sundays,  are  but  spectacles 
and  not  places  of  worship,  and  however  innocent  a  visit  to  them 
may  be  in  the  week,  yet  as  you  cannot  hear  a  word  that  is  going 
on,  and  as  the  whole  service  is  a  mere  pageant,  the  visit,  even 
though  innocent,  is  nothing  but  sight-seeing.  Let  me  give  you, 
as  an  illustration  of  this,  a  sketch  of  last  Sunday  at  the  Milan 
Cathedral. 

"I  was  in  the  vaults  of  the  Cathedral  the  day  before,  on  an 
errand  I  will  presently  describe  to  you,  and  was  present  at  the 
exhumation  of  an  extraordinary  amount  of  trappings  that  had 
been  buried  a  short  time  previous,  to  escape  the  apprehended  sack. 
St.  Charles  Borromeo,  certainly  a  most  worthy  philanthropist,  and 
a  devout  though  mistaken  Christian,  is  the  tutelary  guardian  of 
Milan,  and  all  sorts  of  insignia  commemorating  him  were  being 
dragged  out.  First,  tumbling  feet  foremost,  came  two  silver 
colossal  statues,  the  cost  of  which  we  were  told  was  two  millions 
of  francs,  or  four  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Then  was  turned 
out  with  an  irreverence  in  singular  contrast  with  its  nominal 
sanctity,  a  tooth  of  the  saint,  done  up  in  a  heavy  silver  casket. 
Then  came  a  number  of  other  relics,  some  pretending  to  be  con 
nected  even  with  our  blessed  .Lord,  but  all  mixed  up  in  a  mass  of 


118  MEMOIR   OF 

old  refuse  decorations — fire-works — stands  for  colors — and  stage 
trappings,  which  had  been  used  on  prior  public  rejoicings.  We 
have  heard  of  shoes  which  followed  one  husband  to  his  grave,  and 
then  danced  at  a  wedding  with  a  second.  These  trappings  were 
something  of  the  same  class.  Their  last  office  had  been  to  deck  an 
Austrian  triumph.  The  priests,  wishing  to  be  economical,  thought 
that  by  erasing  a  spread-eagle  in  one  place,  and  daubing  on  the 
tricolors  in  another,  nobody  would  be  the  wiser  if  the  same  finery 
was  brought  out  as  an  apparent  impromptu  to  do  honor  to  the 
Piedmontese  conqueror. 

"  But  the  device  did  not  succeed.  The  secret  crept  out,  and  a 
Milanese  mob  delighted  itself  early  on  Sunday  morning  with  ex 
posing  the  priests  and  baffling  their  designs  by  tearing  down  the 
exhumed  decorations.  Then  came  a  struggle  against  time.  Dis 
affection  to  any  government,  and  particularly  to  a  government  that 
has  as  its  allies  such  rapacious  and  irresponsible  agents  as  mobs,  is 
the  last  thing  of  which  Italian  ecclesiastics  would  be  openly  guilty. 
So  at  once  all  hands  set  to  work,  priests,  attendants,  and  the  work 
men  they  could  collect.  The  king  was  to  appear  at  six  in  the 
afternoon.  The  hands  could  hardly  be  collected  before  noon.  So 
the  service  at  the  Milanese  Cathedral  on  that  day  was  divided  into 
three  parts.  In  the  first,  officiated  the  mob  ;  in  the  second,  a  crowd 
of  milliners,  upholsterers,  carpenters  and  ecclesiastics  ;  in  the  third, 
the  king,  the  officers  of  state,  the  hierarchy,  and  the  people  in  the 
full  splendor  of  a  Te  Deum. 


"  I  have  not  heretofore  written  about  church  architecture,  and 
I  do  not  mean  to  do  so  in  future,  partly  because  you  can  get  far 
better  descriptions  elsewhere,  and  partly  because  it  is  rather  with 
those  active  elements  which  deal  with  our  own  thoughts  that  I 
want  to  treat.  But  I  must  pause  a  moment  before  the  Milan 
Cathedral,  the  most  superb  specimen  of  Gothic  architecture,  in 
regard  both  to  the  majesty  of  its  dimensions  and  the  luxury  of  its 
finish.  I  have  now  seen  St.  PauPs,  in  London  ;  the  Madeleine  and 
the  Notre  Dame,  in  Paris ;  and  the  Cathedral  at  Cologne.  This, 
however,  impresses  me  as  much  the  finer.  It  is  of  white  marble, 
and  reminds  you  in  some  slight  degree  of  Grace  Church,  New 
York,  supposing  that  church  to  be  expanded  tenfold,  to  have  its 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  119 

decorations  almost  indefinitely  multiplied  and  refined,  and  to  be 
provided  with  a  suitable  number  of  transepts  and  chapels.  Out 
side  of  it  alone  there  are  four  thousand  five  hundred  marble  statues 
of  the  average  size  of  life. 

"  The  full  grandeur  of  the  pile  can  be  seen  from  above.  Four 
hundred  and  fifty  stone  steps  lead  you  to  the  top.  There  you  are 
on  the  summit  of  a  vast  marble  roof,  of  about  eight  times  the  area 
of  Girard  College,  but  how  different !  There  we  have  a  flat  plain ; 
but  here  we  have  pinnacles,  their  bases  fringed  with  the  most 
luxuriant  marble  foliage,  and  their  bare,  alpine  summits,  divided 
from  each  other  by  deep  ravines,  whose  white  depths  are  almost 
hidden  in  their  recesses  by  the  shadows  falling  on  them,  and  by 
the  contrast  with  the  sun-lit  heights  above.  Not  many  miles  off 
arise  in  the  landscape  the  snow  clad  tops  of  the  Monte  .Rosa;  and  as 
we  stand  on  the  Cathedral  top,  and  view  the  Alps,  with  their  like 
intermingling  of  snow  glitter  and  ravine  shade,  we  cannot  but 
feel  the  beauty  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  remark,  made,  however,  in  a  far 
different  connection,  that  there  is  'a  certain  look  of  mountain- 
brotherhood  between  the  Cathedral  and  the  Alps.7 


"  There  is  a  sight  below,  however,  more  strange,  if  not  more 
impressive,  than  the  sight  above.  Deep  in  a  crypt  lighted  with 
funeral  tapers,  in  a  sepulchre  and  adorned  with  every  beauty  that 
wealth  and  art  can  provide,  lies  the  body  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo. 
A  dollar  is  the  admission  fee  to  see  him,  and  I  but  followed  the 
current  in  paying  the  visit.  A  coffin  of  plates  of  rock  crystal 
welded  together  by  gold,  is  covered  by  a  silver  case  that  by  an 
ingenious  piece  of  mechanism  may  be  screwed  down  in  such  a  way 
as  to  leave  the  body  of  the  saint  exposed.  There  he  lay,  the  head, 
notwithstanding  its  mummy  like  state,  recalling  to  you  the  well 
known  portraits  and  statues.  Over  the  brow  hung  an  exquisite 
gold  coronet,  the  work  of  Benvenuto  Cellini.  The  body  \vas 
covered  with  the  cardinal's  official  robe  of  damask  heavy  with 
gold.  One  hand  was  gloved  and  held  a  crosier,  and  on  the  other, 
which  was  bare,  sparkled  several  jewels,  claimed  to  be  of  immense 
value.  So  glared  and  glittered  the  saint  at  us,  his  shrunk  and 
blackened  features  in  painful  contrast  with  the  jewels  and  gold 
that  blazed  on  us  as  they  met  the  light  of  the  torch. 


120  MEMOIR   OF 

"Now  to  a  taste  not  adjusted  to  European  standards,  such  a 
sight  as  this,  if  it  does  not  shock,  will  at  least  awe.  I  am  sorry, 
however,  to  say  that  I  found  these  feelings  gradually  weakening  at 
the  sociable,  easy  way  in  which  the  scene  was  treated  by  our  atten 
dants.  One  of  them  was  an  ecclesiastic  who,  before  he  could  go 
down  to  the  sacred  place,  felt  obliged  to  put  on  a  cape  of  lace.  It 
would  have  been  better,  however,  if  he  had  put  on  the  cape  of  a 
reverential  temper,  for  when  he  got  down  to  the  vault  he  skipped 
about  with  such  levity,  and  ran  the  torch  with  such  vivacity  to 
wards  different  parts  of  the  saint's  body,  chattering  all  the  time 
about  it  with  such  familiarity,  as  to  leave  on  the  mind  the  im 
pression  of  a  second-rate  menagerie  exhibitor.  In  one  of  his  skips 
he  flirted  against  a  tall  silver  crucifix  and  knocked  it  over.  Knowing 
the  reverence  paid  by  the  priests  in  public  to  these  awful  symbols, 
I  imagined  that  he  would  at  once  stop,  and  with  some  decorum, 
place  it  again  on  its  pedestal.  Not  so,  however.  On  he  went, 
chirping  away  as  cheerily  as  ever,  as  he  put  the  torch  where  this 
jewel  or  that  bone  could  be  best  seen,  while  the  eyeless  and  toothless 
and  jewelled  dead,  still  glared  and  glittered  at  us  from  below.  It 
was  for  one  of  us,  a  Protestant,  to  replace  the  prostrate  image,  and 
soon  after  our  attendants  took  us  out  as  gaily  and  gossippingly  as 
they  took  us  in. 

"  Now  I  have  dwelt  on  this,  because  I  fear  it  is  but  a  sample  of 
the  stage  trick  by  which  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  Italy,  itself  faith 
less  if  not  scoffing,  turns  the  most  solemn  mysteries  of  our  common 
humanity,  as  well  as  of  our  divine  religion,  into  the  subjects  of  ex 
hibition  and  sale. 

"F.  W." 

"PROTESTANT  MISSIONS  IN  LOMBARDY. 

"Already  Protestant  missions  have  been  organized  in  Lombardy. 
The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  has  made  a  large  appro 
priation,  and  many  thousand  Bibles  and  Testaments  are  at  Milan. 
Even  more  propitious  than  this  is  the  action  of  the  Evangelical 
Society  at  Geneva,  which  has  detailed  some  of  its  best  agents  to 
act  as  colporteurs  in  this  fertile  and  populous,  though  but  lately 
emancipated  region. 

"  So  far  as  concerns  the  Government,  these  movements  have  for 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  121 

the  present  fair  play.  Victor  Emmanuel,  who,  by  the  peace  of 
Villa  Franca,  has  absolute  sway  in  Lombardy,  has  irrevocably 
committed  himself  to  free  principles.  He  governs  in  Sardinia 
through  a  parliament,  and  the  fundamental  sanctions  of  the  Con 
stitution  which  is  there  established  are  universal  education,  and 
what  Mr.  Bright,  in  a  late  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons,  called 
religious  free-trade.  The  resignation  of  Count  Cavour,  does  not 
seem  likely  to  aifect  this  policy.  That  very  able  and  very  en 
lightened  minister  found  himself  unable  to  hold  office,  it  is  true, 
under  a  treaty  that  guaranteed  the  continuance  of  Austrian  sove 
reignty  in  Northern  Italy.  But  his  withdrawal  will  not  be  followed 
by  a  reaction.  His  successors  are  more  advanced  liberals  than 
himself.  I  cannot  think,  in  view  of  these  circumstances,  and  in 
view  of  the  necessity  the  Sardinian  government  is  under  of  retain 
ing  its  hold  on  the  liberal  interests,  that  there  is  any  danger  of 
interference  with  the  Protestant  missionaries. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  ultra-montane  party  is  uttering  shrieks 
of  alarm,  at  the  introduction  of  the  Bible  into  a  country,  from 
which  it  has  for  so  long  been  excluded  by  fire  and  blood.  They 
denounce  it  as  a  falsified  gospel,  and  they  declare  that  the  intrusion 
of  Protestant  missionaries  is  a  conspiracy  against  Italian  peace. 
L9  Univers,  the  high-Romish  organ  at  Paris,  calls  upon  the  Em 
peror  and  the  Sardinian  King  to  stop  the  treason  at  the  outset.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Siede,  with  a  great  deal  more  good  sense,  says 
that  even  from  a  Catholic  standpoint,  these  movements  will  do  no 
harm.  Opposition,  it  argues,  only  purifies  and  strengthens  the 
Church.  Even  supposing  the  Pope  to  be  stripped  of  his  secular 
power,  will  not  this  help  him  ?  Was  the  papacy  ever  so  powerful 
as  when  thus  disencumbered  ? 

"  But  where  will  these  movements  end  ?  Is  there  any  chance  of 
the  light  breaking  on  these  now  darkened  plains  ?  Alas  !  I  cannot 
say.  No  earnest  Christian  can  now  enter  Italy  without  the  exclama 
tion  bursting  from  his  heart,  l  When  the  Lord  cometh,  will  he  find 
faith  among  men  ?'  The  priests  are  now  but  a  foreign  element, 
hating  and  hated.  They  have  no  hold  on  the  men,  and  but  little  on 
the  women.  You  may  traverse  the  churches — you  may  scrutinize 
the  papers — you  may  bend  your  ear  to  catch  the  popular  voice  in 
its  whispers  as  well  as  its  thunders — but  you  hear  no  expression  of 
reverence  for  the  Romish  Church.  On  the  contrary,  from  every 


122  MEMOIR   OF 

quarter  there  strike  you  utterances  of  detestation,  of  ridicule,  or  of 
contempt. 

"  But  is  there  any  countervailing  evangelical  feeling  ?  Is  this 
opposition  to  Rome  religious  as  well  as  political  ?  I  fear  not.  At 
the  best,  the  assault  seems  to  be  from  Atheism.  No  one  can 
fail  to  admire  the  character  of  those  Italian  patriots  who,  under 
such  heavy  indignities  and  persecutions,  have  resolutely,  though 
calmly,  kept  the  liberal  political  faith.  But  the  purest  of  these  in 
rejecting  Rome,  have  rejected  revealed  religion  altogether  They 
speak,  when  they  speak  on  religion  at  all,  in  the  language  of  a 
vague  pantheism.  We  might  as  well  expect  to  make  missionaries 
of  them  as  of  Horace  Greeley  or  Theodore  Parker.  And  so  it  is, 
though  in  a  coarser  way,  with  the  people  at  large.  Humanly 
speaking,  I.  do  not  see  how,  even  in  Lombardy,  the  gospel  is  to  be 
spread,  except  by  the  instrumentality  of  earnest,  faithful  preachers, 
capable  of  commanding  and  directing  the  attention  of  a  people 
whose  sense  of  individual  religious  responsibility,  seems  now  almost 
extinct. 


"  Whatever  may  be  our  political  or  social  prejudices,  1  do  not 
see  how  any  right-minded  American  can  travel  on  the  Continent  of 
Europe  without  feeling  a  pride  in  his  English  descent.  The  Eng 
lishman  may  be  awkward,  and  in  some  cases — I  have  found  them 
very  rare — supercilious.  But  wherever  he  goes  he  carries  with  him, 
in  all  their  integrity  and  pride,  the  institutions  of  his  home.  In  a 
country  where  society  is  but  one  great  lie,  he  speaks  the  truth.  In  a 
country  where  everybody  cheats,  he  is  not  merely  honest,  but  has  a 
credulous  simplicity  about  him  which  makes  him  a  ready  victim  of 
imposition,  until  almost  the  last  step,  when  woe  to  those  wTho  en 
counter  his  wrath.  In  a  country  where  infidels  as  well  as  believers 
take  off  their  hats  to  relics,  and  cross  themselves  with  holy  water,  and 
dip  down  before  altars,  he  tramps  resolutely  through  cathedrals,  and 
from  his  clumsiness,  much  more  than  from  even  his  scepticism,  jostles 
so  rashly  among  the  '  spectacles'  as  to  draw  down  many  a  scowl 
from  the  priests  in  charge.  But  with  all  this  defiant  rejection  of 
what  he  thinks  wrong,  we  have  an  equal  defiant  maintenance  of 
what  he  thinks  right.  With  him — and  he  travels  a  great  deal — 
goes  his  church.  Of  all  intolerantly  Roman  Catholic  communities 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  123 

that  of  Luzerne  has  been  the  most  so.  Yet  here  we  had,  on  Sunday, 
August  14,  a  congregation  of  nearly  four  hundred,  attending  our 
Church  service,  and  listening  to  two  most  faithful  sermons  from 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Alford.  The  scene  was  indeed  remarkable,  for  the 
Church  is  one  which  the  municipal  authorities,  I  suppose  from 
political  considerations,  lent  to  the  English  for  public  worship.  It 
is  called  '  St.  Maria,  Hilf/  and  blossoms  all  over  with  Mariolatry. 
The  high  altar  has  now  a  veil  over  it,  but  this  does  not  conceal  the 
immense  picture  above,  representing  the  Virgin  being  worshipped 
by  all  sorts  of  personages,  celestial  as  well  as  terrestrial,  while  on 
top  are  in  large  letters  the  words — from  which  the  church  takes  its 
name  : 

HILF,    MARIA,  HILF  ! 

Nothing,  however,  could  be  in  greater  contrast  with  this  than  the 
faithful  sermons  which  were  that  day  preached. 

"  ROMISH    SUNDAY    FESTIVALS. 

"In  singular  juxtaposition  with  the  severe  majesty  of  the  gospel 
call  to  worship,  is  the  following,  which  I  translate  roughly  from 
the  Luzerner  Tagblatt,  of  August  14  : — 

'  Come  every  one  to  the  church-feast, 
For  all  will  be  there,  the  greatest  and  least ! 
Put  on  your  festival  jacket  and  gown, 
For  dressed  in  its  finest  you'll  see  all  the  town. 
Come  along  on  this  Sunday,  for  here  you  will  find 
All  kinds  of  eating  and  drinking  combined — 
With  music  and  singing  for  those  who  are  inclined, 
But  Ave  Maria  to  those  who' re  behind.' 

"  And  in  response  to  this  very  extraordinary  invitation,  the 
streets  of  Luzerne  were  thronged  even  as  early  as  six,  with  persons 
going  to  this /Church-Feast/  Here  was  a  procession  of  students, 
formed  in  line,  singing  their  gay  songs  as  they  tramped  along. 
There  came  a  party  of  peasants,  with  their  plaited  hair  and  black 
bodices.  What  they  did  when  they  got  to  the  festival  I  cannot 
say,  but  certainly  their  conduct  on  the  way  was  anything  but 
devotional. 


124  MEMOIR   OF    ' 


"  One  feature  strikes  me  peculiarly  among  the  English  evan 
gelical  clergy  whom  I  met  in  London  during  my  visit  there,  and 
whom  I  have  since  seen  on  the  continent.  This  is  the  very  great 
positiveness  of  their  theology.  You  know  here  this  quality  was 
noticed  in  Mr.  Ryle's  tracts,  and  how  much  they  owe  to  it  their 
success.  Now  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  this  quality  pervades  all 
the  clergy.  But  I  do  say  that  among  those  with  whom  I  have 
been  particularly  thrown,  I  find  a  directness  of  exposition  in  respect 
to  the  doctrines  of  grace,  and  a  simple  clearness  in  the  technical 
statement  of  the  necessity  of  conversion,  and  of  the  consequences 
of  an  unconverted  death,  such  as  are  by  no  means  conceived  even 
with  the  clergy  holding  the  same  general  views  among  ourselves. 
Perhaps  this  is  one  of  the  few  evil  consequences  \vhich  flow  from 
our  system  of  elections.  The  episcopate  is  a  sore  temptation,  and 
so  often  is  a  seat  in  a  standing  committee,  or  in  the  General  Con 
vention,  and  as  long  as  these  things  are  held  out  as  honors,  they 
have  a  sad  tendency  to  produce  a  weakness  in  the  knees.  Men  are 
afraid  to  be  considered  ultra,  forgetting  that,  humanly  speaking,  in 
an  unconverted  world,  the  truth  must  be  always  considered  ultra 
by  the  great  body  of  those  who  make  up  public  opinion.  And 
yet,  yield  to  these — adopt  a  compromising,  apologetic  way  of 
stating  the  truth — and  you  lose  your  main  chance  of  converting 
•  the  world  to  a  real  Christianity. 


"  Let  me,  as  illustrating  this  directness  in  the  English  clergy,  go 
back  to  Sunday  evening,  July  24th,  when  I  was  spending  a  most 
happy  day  in  London.  I  have  now  before  me  the  programme, 
part  of  which  I  extract : — 

EXETER   HALL. 

Special  Sunday  Evening  Services. 

FOR   THE   WORKING   CLASSES. 

1859. 

THE    WORKING   CLASSES   ONLY   ARE    INVITED. 

Seats  F**ee — No  Collection — Come  Early. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  125 

"  In  the  programme  is  a  collection  of  nine  hymns,  comprising  the 
following  : — 

*  Guide  me,  O  thou  great  Jehovah.' 

'  Once  more,  before  we  part.' 

'  Come,  gracious  Spirit,  Heavenly  Dove. 

4  Hark  !  the  voice  of  love  and  mercy.' 

'  From  all  that  dwell  below  the  skies.' 

4  Come,  quickly  souls,  and  flee  away.' 

4  Not  all  the  blood  of  beasts.' 

4  Come,  thou  fount  of  every  blessing.' 

4  Christian  brethren,  ere  we  part.' 

"  Now  here  was  a  service,  one  of  a  series,  conducted  under  the 
direct  auspices  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  a  prelate  certainly  not  a 
Low  Churchman.  Let  us  see  how  it  was  conducted ;  and  in  view 
of  the  wonderful  success  of  this  movement,  not  merely  in  spreading 
the  gospel,  but  in  extending  the  Church  among  the  working  classes, 
let  me  invite  the  more  nervous  among  our  American  Churchmen  to 
witness  the  scene.  First,  the  minister  of  the  evening,  Mr.  Cad- 
man,  stood  up  in  his  black  gown,  without  chancel,  reading  desk,  or 
stool,  before  that  immense  congregation.  The  service  opened  with 
a  hymn,  which  was  followed  by  the  Litany.  Then  came  another 
hymn,  and  then  the  bidding  prayer,  and  then  the  sermon,  which, 
like  those  of  which  I  have  already  spoken,  was  faithful,  direct,  and 
full.  Then  came  an  extemporaneous  prayer,  and  then  a  closing 
hymn. 

"  Now  I  have  only  to  say  to  all  this,  that  I  have  never  seen  in 
Episcopal  worship  so  vast,  so  earnest,  so  deeply  responsive  a  con 
gregation.  One  great,  deep  voice  of  entreaty  seemed  to  swell  up  in 
the  responses,  a  shout  of  praise  and  joy — I  hope  I  will  be  forgiven 
so  inelegant  an  expression — in  the  hymns.  Now,  in  view  of  the 
great  brotherhood  which,  in  the  next  world  at  least,  is  to  exist,  was 
it  an  objection  that  many  of  these  voices  were  as  rough  and  harsh 
as  they  were  loud  ?  There  was  a  drayman  next  to  me,  for  instance, 
whose  hoarse  notes,  and  coarse  though  clean  linen  smock,  even  the 
most  fastidious  might  excuse,  when  they  saw  the  tears  trickle 
down  his  cheeks  as  the  preacher  dwelt  upon  our  Lord's  abounding 
love  and  the  hardness  of  the  heart  that  rejects  it.  Such  is  the 
movement  that  is  now  making  the  Anglican  communion  the 
popular  as  well  as  the  national  Church  of  England. 

"•F.  W." 


126  MEMOIR   OF 


ACRE. 

"  Munich,  of  German  cities  the  richest  in  works  of  art,  has  one 
spot  which  is,  of  all  others,  the  best  calculated  to  teach  us  that 
while  life  is  short  and  art  is  long,  yet  neither  is  in  the  balance  of 
any  account  as  compared  with  eternity.  At  the  southern  end  of 
the  city  lies  a  vast  graveyard,  or  GOD'S  ACRE,  as  the  German 
tongue  gives  it.  MAN'S  acres  lie  about  it,  and  richly  adorned  are 
they  by  human  genius.  There,  in  buildings,  themselves  of  the 
most  imposing  architecture,  is  on  one  spot  the  finest  display  of 
ancient  statuary  in  the  world.  —  There,  on  another,  is  the  most  com 
plete  collection  of  Flemish,  German,  and  North  Italian  paintings. 
On  another  is  a  library  of  800,000  volumes,  second  only  to  that 
of  Paris.  There,  on  the  west,  in  the  midst  of  a  Parthenon-like 
temple,  stands  a  colossal  image  of  Bavaria,  distributing  her 
rewards  among  the  laurel-wreathed  busts  which  are  there  arrayed. 
And  there,  to  the  north,  is  the  temple  of  justice,  where  are  dis 
tributed  the  rewards  and  penalties  of  the  living. 

"  Let  us  go,  however,  to  the  field  where  lie  the  dead  on  whose 
ears  the  distribution  of  these  earthly  honors  fall  so  lightly,  but 
over  whom  a  Judge  Omnipotent  has  now  pronounced  his'  award. 
The  population  of  this  city  of  the  dead  far  exceeds  that  of  the 
neighboring  city  of  the  living.  Many  things  strike  us  as  we 
enter.  The  graves  are  far  more  artistic  than  with  us.  Each  has 
its  little  pot  of  flowers,  to  which  even  strangers,  in  conformity  with 
the  permission  which  is  given  on  the  gates,  bring  their  contribu 
tions.  In  front  of  nearly  each  grave  stands  an  urn  or  pan  of 
water,  near  which  lies  a  stick,  with  a  sponge  or  brush  at  its  end. 
It  seems  to  be  a  mark  of  pious  care  on  the  part  of  those  who  pass 
along  the  walks  to  sprinkle  a  few  drops  of  water  on  the  graves  of 
those  whom  perhaps  they  had  known  or  loved  in  life,  so  that  there 
the  turf  may  grow  more  greenly. 

"  Two  teachers  stand  here,  one  small  and  the  other  great.  The 
first  speaks  of  the  splendor  and  permanence  of  fame  ;  of  the  value 
of  glory  ;  of  the  lasting  gratitude  of  men.  But  the  other,  with  an 
austere  brow,  rebukes  this  babbler,  and  points,  as  he  does  so,  to  the 
broken  monuments  under  which  emperors  lie  buried  ;  to  inscrip 
tions,  now  illegible,  over  frames  that  once  struggled  as  haughtily 
and  successfully  as  the  most  splendid  hero  of  the  present. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTOX.  127 

"  Then  there  are  tombs  which  especially  tell  us  how  vain  is  all 
this  talk  of  glory.  In  the  centre  of  this  graveyard,  so  overshadowed 
by  more  brilliant  mausoleums  as  almost  to  escape  observation,  is 
an  obelisk,  on  which  is  the  following  inscription  :• — 

"  ' L'Armee  du  Rhin,  commandee  par  le  General  Moreau,  &  la 
memoire  du  General  Bastoul,  blesse  a  la  bataille  de  Hohenlinden, 
le  12.  Frini.  mort  a  Munich,  le  25  Nix,  an  9.  de  la  Repub.  Franc.' 

"Would  not  even  that  brilliant  young  general  have  thought, 
had  he  known  what  was  to  come,  that  glory  was  but  a  poor  thing, 
if  all  that  remained  of  it  after  fifty  years  was  a  cold  gray  stone 
upon  which  only  a  chance  foot  stumbles  !  Then  as  to  the  earthly 
objects,  for  which  he,  and  the  army  of  which  he  was  one,  struggled  ! 
The  tombs  around  him  answer.  Numberless  Bavarian  captains 
lie  there,  speaking  exultingly  of  each  step  that  led  to  France's 
final  humiliation.  Some  tell  us  how  the  republic  vanished,  and 
how  the  great  first  consul  himself  laid  prostrate  that  liberty  for 
which  so  much  blood  had  been  shed.  Some  speak  of  Russian 
snows,  and  of  Frenchmen,  and  as  wrell  of  Germans  left  behind  in 
a  frozen  grave.  Others  come  from  Leipzic,  with  wounds  gladly 
earned  in  that  great  people's  fight.  Others  tell  us  that  Waterloo, 
in  witnessing  the  final  defeat  of  France,  witnessed  also  their  own 
death  in  battle.  But  sadder  than  all,  rises  that  sublime  monument 
which  was  raised  to  Eugene  Beauharnois  by  the  genius  of  Thor- 
waldsen.  I  do  not  know  but  that  this  struck  me  as  the  finest 
piece  of  sculpture. I  have  yet  seen,  though,  perhaps,  this  may  have 
been  from  its  moral  force  as  well  as  for  its  artistic  beauty.  The 
monument  was  erected  by  his  widow,  and  there  are  few  more 
touching  illustrations  of  woman's  constancy  than  that  which  the 
inscription  exhibits.  Forgetting  the  dynastic  honors  which  her 
husband  derived  from  herself,  the  daughter  of  a  Bavarian  King, 
she  commemorates  him — in  words  which  must  have  rung  harshly 
in  Bavarian  ears — simply  as  Eugene  Napoleon,  once  Vice-Roy  of 
Italy.  He  did  not  live  long  after  his  marriage,  nor  long  after  the 
final  overthrow  of  the  first  Napoleon,  and  now  as  the  singularly 
beautiful  and  majestic  face  of  the  son  of  Josephine  looks  down  on 
us,  what  lessons  does  it  teach  of  the  shadowiness  of  human 
triumphs  !  He  who  lies  underneath  that  stone  would  not  now,  if 
he  still  lived,  have  been  an  old  man,  and  yet  his  life  would  have 
spanned  in  France  alone  the  erection  and  the  demolition  of  two 


128  MEMOIE   OF 

monarchies,  of  republican  constitutions  almost  numberless,  and  of 
that  splendid  empire  of  which  he  was  himself  one  of  the  noblest 
supporters. 

"  There  is  one  more  scene  in  this  graveyard  to  which  I  must 
turn.  As  you  reach  the  end  of  an  arcade,  under  which  are  ranged 
the  higher  order  of  mausoleums,  you  come  suddenly  to  a  series  of 
large  glass  doors  separating  you  from  a  recess-chamber.  'How 
life-like/  you  exclaim,  for  the  first  impression  is  that  here  in  their 
glass  cases  lie  waxen  images  of  the  dead.  But  no  !  they  are  the 
dead  themselves. — Here  they  are  from  day  to  day,  laid,  as  it  were, 
in  state  for  a  few  hours  before  their  interment.  They  are  dressed 
in  their  usual  clothes,  though  decorated  with  peculiar  care,  and 
flowers  lie  abundantly  around  them.  I  could  not  but  linger  for  a 
moment  before  one  of  those  chambers.  Two  biers,  around  the 
head  of  each  of  which  were  flickering  wax  candles,  stretched  there. 
On  one  was  a  very  aged  man,  his  almost  gauzy  gray  hair  dropping 
lightly  over  a  face  whose  wrinkles  death  had  smoothed,  his  left 
hand  grasping  a  cross,  while  his  right  enclosed  a  bell-rope,  which 
is  thus  extended  to  give  notice  in  case  of  resuscitation. 

"  In  the  next  lay  a  woman  whose  face,  on  which  the  carefully 
braided  brown  hair  scarcely  showed  a  glimmer  of  gray,  wore  an 
expression  very  sad  as  it  lay  turned  towards  the  window  where  I 
was  standing.  I  looked  at  the  register  which  was  hung  up  by  the 
window-sill,  and  saw  her  age  was  thirty-seven.  ( Poor  thing/  I 
heard  a  voice  near  me  say,  '  she  had  much  sorrow,  but  she  is  now 
at  rest/  It  was  one  woman  speaking  to  another ;  but  I  felt  that  it 
was  a  lesson  to  which  all  men  might  listen. — Sorrow  and  rest ! 
To  those  who  know  their  own  hearts,  how  precious  is  the  thought 
that  the  one  is  God's  discipline  to  the  other. 


"  I  am  sorry  to  give  so  unfavorable  an  account  of  Continental 
Sundays,  but  I  am  confident  that  there  is  no  American  but  must 
on  first  view  do  the  same.  Here,  indeed,  there  is  far  more  of  the 
heart  engaged  in  religion  than  in  France,  and  far  more  of  the  head 
than  in  Italy,  but  still  even  here,  Sunday  is  a  day  which  merely 
intensifies  the  pleasure  if  not  the  labors  of  other  days.  Most  of 
the  shops  are  open.  The  public  amusements  are  magnified  and 
multiplied.  The  '  Tages — Anzeiger/  which  lies  before  me,  gives 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  129 

notice  of  three  theatres,  of  a  circus,  of  a  '  carousal/  of  twelve  pub 
lic  balls,  and  of  a  juggler's  exhibition.  Now  all  this  is  for  this 
evening,  and  a  population  of  130,000,  in  which,  in  the  same  even 
ing,  there  is  not  a  single  religious  service. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  so  far  as  the  churches  are  concerned,  there 
is  much  more  seriousness  here,  and  a  much  nearer  approach  to 
Orthodoxy,  than  in  countries  of  Romanic  population.  The  Virgin 
sinks  from  a  primacy  to  a  subordinate  station.  We  no  longer  see 
in  pictures  of  the  last  day,  men  such  as  Napoleon  footing  his  way 
upwards  to  heaven,  through  saints  and  martyrs  as  superciliously 
and  successfully  as  in  earth  he  jostled  his  way  through  princes  and 
kings.  Frivolous  relics  are  not  by  any  means  as  numerous,  nor 
frivolous  holidays  as  frequent.  The  Church,  also,  shows  a  far 
greater  zeal  for  public  edification.  I  have  now  before  me  a  list  of 
Romish  services  for  Sunday,  Aug.  21st.  They  are  over  sixty  in 
number,  and  distributed  among  twenty-eight  churches.  Now, 
though,  this  is  but  one-third  of  what  there  would  be  in  American 
cities  of  the  same  size,  yet  it  is  twice  as  many  as  there  are  in  Paris. 

"  CHURCH  REFORM. 

"  Two  importants  steps  have  lately  been  taken  towards  German 
toleration.  The  Prussian  Government,  as  you  are  aware,  estab 
lished  some  years  back  a  system  of  compulsory  uniformity,  by 
which  Calvinists  and  Lutherans  were  fused  into  a  new  national 
communion.  The  common-schools  were  placed  in  connection  with 
this  Church,  and  it  was  required  that  all  Protestant  children  should 
attend  these  schools.  This  was  peculiarly  hard  upon  the  old  High- 
Church  Lutherans,  who  had  conscientious  scruples  against  what 
they  considered  a  pernicious  latitudinarianism — I  am  glad  to  say 
that  the  present  administration  has  removed  this  restriction.  A 
decree  has  been  issued  authorizing  dissenters  from  the  state-church 
to  establish  schools  for  the  religious  instruction  of  their  children, 
provided  that  nothing  is  taught  in  such  school  contravening  the 
laws  of  the  land.  Other  restrictions  on  the  religious  worship  of 
the  dissenters  have  been  removed  by  a  decree  which  took  effect  on 
July  20. 

"  On  the  other  hand  the  Emperor  of  Austria  has  expressly  de 
nied  a  statement  that  the  new  foundations  for  the  benefit  of  the 
orphan  children  of  soldiers  killed  in  the  late  war,  were  to  be  con- 


130  MEMOIR   OF 

fined  to  Catholics.  It  is  true  that  in  many  cases  the  funds  which 
makeup  these  foundations  are  dedicated  to  Catholic  use  alone; 
and  with  these  the  government  does  not  interfere.  With  its  own 
funds,  however,  it  makes  no  discrimination.  The  Emperor  has 
made  another  move  in  the  same  direction,  in  giving  a  piece  of 
ground  for  a  Protestant  Church  at  Vienna.  I  regret,  however,  to 
say,  that  in  the  promised  decree  for  the  relief  of  Protestants,  no 
change  is  made  in  the  provision,  that  the  children  of  mixed  mar 
riages  should  in  all  cases  be  educated  Catholics. 

"THE  HOLY  PLACES. 

"  The  disgraceful  scenes  which  have  been  enacted  at  Jerusalem 
it  is  now  hoped  will  be  closed.  A  Convention  has  just  been  exe 
cuted  between  the  French  and  the  Russian  Emperor  providing  for 
the  restoration  of  the  sepulchre  at  their  joint  cost,  and  for  future 
alternate  worship  between  the  two  confessions. 

"F.  W." 

BOHEMIAN  VOICES. 

"  From  no  German  city  are  there  to  be  heard  voices  of  greater 
religious  significance  than  from  Prague.  Let  me  ask  you  to  visit 
with  me  a  few  of  the  scenes  from  which  these  voices  arise,  and 
there  to  enquire  whether  we  cannot  draw  from  them  one  or  two 
important  lessons. 


"  First  let  us  go  to  the  old  Bohemian  Metropolitan  Church  of 
St.  Viet.  Five  hundred  years  ago  it  \vas  begun,  four  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago  completed.  Like  the  Cathedral  at  Cologne,  it 
exhibits  in  the  Alpine  severity  of  its  many  pinnacled  heights,  as 
well  as  in  the  grand  gothic  simplicity  of  its  naves  and  aisles,  the 
peculiar  characteristics  of  that,  almost  the  purest,  era  of  Christian 
architecture.  In  its  vaults  lie  buried  the  bodies  of  some  of  the 
earliest  German  warriors  and  confessors.  St.  Wenzel,  is  commem 
orated  by  a  chapel  whose  walls  are  studded  with  Bohemian  precious 
stones,  over  which  is  hung  a  tapestry  marking  the  first  period  of 
German  art.  Here,  also,  are  the  earlier  and  more  orthodox  phases 
of  mediaeval  theology,  to  be  marked.  In  that  recess  is  a  copy,  as 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  131 

old  as  1368,  of  the  famous  Byzantine  picture  of  our  blessed 
Lord ;  the  only  picture  that  comes  down  to  us  with  any  historical 
attestation.  And  it  is  worthy  of  notice  how  free,  is  this  ancient 
and  beautiful  painting,  from  the  symbols  of  subsequent  corruptions. 

"  FROM  THE  HUSSITES. 

"  Let  us  come,  however,  a  step  further  in  the  course  of  time. 
Here,  in  the  Alt-Stadt,  is  the  Teyn-kirche,  built  in  1407  by 
German  merchants,  who  were  beginning  to  be  restive  with  the 
high  ecclesiasticism  which  even  then  was  creeping  into  the  Cathe 
dral.  Here  were  the  Hussite  doctrines  first  preached.  Look  at 
that  statute  of  the  Virgin  standing  at  the  peak  of  the  roof  between 
the  two  towers.  That  statute  did  not  always  stand  there.  Once  on 
that  spot  was  seen  a  large  golden  cup,  then  a  Hussite  symbol ;  and 
underneath  that  cup  stood  a  statute  of  George  Podiebrad,  who  was 
crowned  in  1458  in  that  church  King  of  Bohemia.  There  it  is 
that  we  are  told  of  the  fate  of  Bohemian  Protestantism.  On  Nov. 
8th,  1620,  the  Protestants,  under  the  elector  Palatine,  Frederick 
V.,  then  claiming  the  Bohemian  crown,  made  a  final  stand  against 
the  Romish  league.  The  elector  had  married  a  daughter  of  James 
I.,  of  England,  and  was  encouraged  in  his  assumption  of  the  Pro 
testant  leadership  by  promises  from  his  vain  and  gasconading  but 
cowardly  father-in-law.  The  combination  against  him  was  at  once 
powerful  and  prompt.  But  of  this  the  English  people,  in  those 
days  of  slow  intelligence,  knew  but  little,  and  when  they  heard  of 
the  defeat  of  the  elector,  and  the  annihilation  of  Bohemian  Protes 
tantism  by  the  allied  army  under  the  command  of  Maximilian  of 
Bavaria,  there  arose  on  the  British  shores  a  shriek  of  surprise  and 
rage,  which  continued  to  resound  until  the  Stuarts  were  dethroned, 
and  until,  under  the  grand  menaces  of  Cromwell,  the  more  demon 
strative  persecutions,  at  least,  of  the  Romish  princes,  ceased.  But 
of  the  intermediate  period  there  is  still  something  here  to  speak. 
That  old  town  bell,  which  you  see  before  the  church  door,  has  its 
particular  tale.  For  there,  on  June  21st,  1621,  were  publicly 
executed  twenty-seven  of  the  Protestant  chiefs,  most  of  them 
Bohemian  noblemen — and  there,  twelve  years  afterwards,  Wallen- 
stein  beheaded  eleven  officers  of  the  highest  rank  in  the  imperial 
army. 


132  MEMOIR   OF 


"Let  us  descend,  however,  a  little  further.     Here  is  a  small 
palace,  whose  outside  would  remind  you  not  a  little,  though   its 
walls  are  thicker  and  more  substantial,  and  its  surface  far  more 
weatherbeaten,  of  that  of  Joseph  Buonaparte,   near  Bordentown. 
But  inside  a  very  different  scene  presents  itself.     For  here  was  the 
ducal  residence  of  Wallenstein,  that  great  and  mysterious  captain, 
whose  reckless  ambition,  military  genius,   and  love    of  splendor 
gave  him  so  striking  a  resemblance  to  the  first  Napoleon,  and  his 
stealthy  reticence  to  the  third.     In  the  Wallenstein  family  has  this 
palace  been  preserved  almost  unchanged  down  to  the  present  day. 
As  you  enter  you  see  the  artificial  grottoes  used  by  the  duke  as 
baths,  and  the  large  gardens,  planned  in  the  French  fashions  of 
those  days,  where  he  used  to  take  exercise.     A  little  further  and 
you  come  to  a  small  chamber,  in  which  he  himself  caused  the 
horse,  which  was  killed  under  him  in  the  battle  of  Lutzen,  to  be 
stuffed  and  preserved.     There  that  horse  still  stands,  in  the  bridle 
and  saddle  used  by  Wallenstein  on  that  eventful  day.     And  there, 
in  strange  proximity,  are  the  turret  in  which  he  used,  in  company 
with  necromancers,  to  consult  the  stars,  and  the  chapel,  in  which, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  priests,  to  address  the  Christian's  God. 
Here  are  the  very  steps  on  which  he  ascended  to  the  one,  and  the 
very  carpet  (of  an  old  Persian  pattern,  but  now  greatly  worn  by 
the  feet  and  hands  of  the  curious  if  not  by  the  knees  of  the  devo 
tional)  on  which  he  knelt  in  the  other.     If  we  could  look  a  little 
further  into  the  past,  what  a  scene  would  be   unfolded  to  us  ! 
There  lies  the  great  captain,  with  the  blood  from  an  assassin's 
knife  streaming  from  his  bosom.     On  his  table  are  scattered  maps, 
books  of  astrology  and  books  of  devotion,  and  it  is  said  papers 
from  which  his  intended  treachery  to  the  Romish  and  Imperial 
causes  could  be  proved.     Certain  it  is  that  in  that  dark  and  power 
ful  intellect  the  plans  were  matured  which  would  have  once  more 
broken  at  least  the  yoke  of  the  Catholic  league.     But  there  he  lies 
dead,  and  with  him  lies  the  last  present  hope  of  the  restoration  of 
independence  in  middle  and  southern  Germany. 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  133 

"  FROM  THE  SEVEN- YEARS  WAR. 

"  But  not  so,  for,  here,  once  again  in  the  old  metropolitan  church, 
we  come  to  a  shattered  pillar  from  which  hangs  a  cannon  ball  which 
struck  the  church  during  the  bombardment  of  Prague,  in  1744,  by 
the  Prussians  under  Frederick  the  Great.  Here,  on  the  church 
walls,  and  on  the  bridge,  are  still  seen  the  marks  of  the  storming 
and  capture  of  the  city  in  that  year,  and  near  here  the  field  of  that 
final  battle  by  which,  in  1757,  the  cause  of  independence,  if  not 
of  Protestantism  was  for  the  last  time  prostrated  in  Bohemia.  And 
now,  as  if  to  seal  the  final  submission  of  this  once  noble  people  to 
Austrian  tyranny,  we  have  monuments  erected  to  those  who  in  1848 
put  down  the  liberal  movements  in  Prague,  and  then  trampled  out 
the  fire  of  liberty  in  Italy. 

"  From  all  this  turmoil  and  confusion,  from  viewing  a  battle 
field  in  which  we  see  the  cause  which  we  love  and  hold  true,  thrice 
triumphant  and  thrice  defeated,  in  which  at  last,  we  see  its  last 
defenders  trodden  down  under  heels  so  hard  and  remorseless,  and 
with  an  arrogance  so  bitter  and  cruel  that  our  very  blood  boils — 
what  lesson  do  we  draw  ?  Is  our  God  careless  of  his  purposes, 
or  uncertain  in  the  execution  of  his  design  ?  Let  us  go  a  little 
further  still,  into  another  quarter  of  this  ancient  city  of  Prague, 
and  see  whether  we  cannot  here  find  an  answer. 

"  FROM  THE  JEWISH  LIVING. 

"  View  then,  the  oldest  and  most  enduring  monument  of  them 
all,  a  monument  always  changing  in  substance,  never  in  feature  or 
expression,  on  whose  surface  of  flesh  the  eternal  constancy  of 
God's  purposes  is  inserted  in  letters  that  never  vary.  See  what 
meets  us  here,  a  population  of  7000  Jews  is  forced  together  in  280 
houses.  These  houses  are  like  the  worst  we  see  in  Water  street,  in 
Philadelphia,  but  are  so  close,  that  their  upper  stories — and  they 
are  very  high — seem,  as  they  totteringly  bend  to  each  other,  almost 
to  touch.  The  windows  present  a  singular  sight.  Owing,  I  sup 
pose,  to  the  crowded  state  of  the  rooms,  the  feather  beds,  in  which 
the  inmates  appear  to  have  burrowed  the  night  before,  are  hung 
out  to  air,  giving,  as  they  gush  outwards  from  every  house,  a 
decamping  and  unsettled  expression  strongly  harmonizing  with 
that  of  the  people  below.  For  there  they  are,  flitting  and  writhing 


134  MEMOIR    OF 

to  and  fro,  sometimes  selling  goods  in  some  temporary  shanty,  or 
peddling  and  chattering  hastily  together,  but  always  huddling  near 
to  each  other,  with  motions  as  you  look  down  on  them  at  a  dis 
tance  more  like  those  of  a  swarm  of  suddenly  aroused  ants,  than 
those  of  men.  There  they  are,  with  that  restless,  packed  up  man 
ner,  as  if  always  just  about  to  start  on  some  great  journey,  and  yet 
never  starting,  with  everything  ready  to  move,  and  that  feverish- 
ness  which  seems  to  speak  of  having  been  so  long  ready  for  the 
great  steam-whistle  to  sound  and  the  cars  to  start,  they,  standing 
as  it  were  at  the  station,  with  their  baggage  all  collected  in  sudden 
packages  in  their  hands,  and  waiting  and  wondering  and  waiting, 
and  yet  the  summons  never  coming  though  they  and  the  great 
SUMMONS  stand  as  it  were  there  face  to  face,  there  they  are,  with 
that  unmistakable  physiognomy  and  manner  and  habits,  there 
they  have  been  for  a  thousand  years,  there  they  will  be  until  He 
that  cometh  will  come.  TARRY  THEN  TILL  i  COME.  So  they 
have  tarried,  tarried  the  same,  tarried  waiting,  but  alas  !  tarried  so 
blindly. 

• 

"  FROM  THE  JEWISH   DEAD. 

"  But  still,  a  little  further.  A  crowd  of  Jewish  boys  shoving 
up  to  us.  '  Shall  we  take  you  here,  or  there  ??  But  they  slink 
back  as  a  very  bent  old  man  totters  up.  '  I  have  the  keys  of  the 
old  graveyard  ;  will  you  go  in  ?'  You  enter,  paying  to  your  guide 
the  fee  that  he  jealously  clutches.  There  are  the  quarters  of  the 
Jewish  dead,  even  still  more  tangled  and  twisted  together  than  the 
living.  Strangely  must  those  bones  lie  crossed  and  jostled,  for,  by 
that  compressive  and  self-involuting  nationality  we  see  among  the 
houses  of  the  living,  the  grave-stones  lie :  here  one  creeping  over 
another,  others  leaning  as  it  were  in  a  stack,  and  all  together  cover 
ing  the  ground  as  with  a  continuous  heap  of  aged,  long,  weather 
beaten  granite  fragments.  But  look  more  closely  and  you  will  see 
what  a  mysterious  history  is  here  written.  Stones  are  here  whose 
dates  go  back  to  periods  just  following  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish 
temple  under  Titus.  The -several  tribes  are  here.  The  urn  tells  of 
Levi ;  the  vine  of  Israel  ;  the  double  hand  of  Aaron.  So  here  they 
lie,  the  quick  and  the  dead  waiting  together,  to  join  in  their  own 
particular  ranks  in  the  procession  of  the  great  day.  Unchanged 
have  they  thus  waited,  proclaiming  how,  over  all  the  intermediate 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHAKTOX.  135 

and  subordinate  circlings  of  Providence,  the  divine  purpose  in  its 
great  lines  of  redemption  and  retribution  marches  on  constant  and 
unvaried.  Here,  as  it  were  at  this  witness  box,  are  the  living  and 
the  dead,  summoned  to  attest  by  evidence  in  itself  a  miracle,  the 
truth  of  the  divine  word. 

"F.  W." 
% 

BERLIN  AND  AMERICAN  STUDENTS. 

"  Supposing  Philadelphia  to  have  its  streets  widened  by  one-half, 
and  its  houses  covered  with  a  whitish-brown  plaster,  you  have  a 
fair  idea  of  Berlin.  No  continental  city — except,  perhaps,  Munich 
— is  half  so  American  looking,  because  no  continental  city  of  any 
thing  like  the  same  size  is  by  any  means  so  new,  and  so  adapted 
to  business  purposes.  We  no  longer  meet  those  vast  but  gloomy 
palaces,  whose  internal  splendor  but  illy  atones  for  their  darkened 
exterior  and  iron-latticed  windows.  We  no  longer  see  the  houses 
of  the  poor  crowded  so  closely  on  their  crooked  lanes,  that  their 
upper  stories  almost  touch.  The  picturesque  old  roof  that  beetles 
over  the  street,  the  quaint  bow-windows,  the  short  and  crooked 
alleys,  here  give  way  to  square  houses,  built  in  the  most  practical 
modern  style,  upon  long  and  wide  streets,  crossing  each  other 
mostly  at  right  angles.  I  do  not  wonder  that  these,  that  the  very 
outside  of  Berlin,  make  Americans  feel  themselves  at  home. 
.  "  But  there  are  other  reasons  why  Berlin,  especially  for  theologi 
cal  students,  has  peculiar  advantages.  That  wild  student-spirit, 
which  is  so  dominant  in  the  rural  universities,  and  which  makes 
the  beer-cellar,  the  senate  chamber  by  which  an  inexorable  public 
opinion  is  pronounced,  loses  here  its  intolerance.  It  is,  of  course, 
just  as  easy  to  be  rowdy  here  as  it  is  elsewhere,  but  it  is  also  easy 
to  be  quiet  and  orderly,  to  dress  like  a  citizen,  and  neither  to  drink 
beer  nor  smoke  pipes.  And,  besides  this,  the  theological  faculty 
is  eminent  for  its  ability,  its  orthodoxy,  and  its  catholicity.  To 
spend  one  year  here,  I  am  convinced,  would  to  many  minds  bring 
peculiar  theological  and  literary  advantages,  and  to  very  few  would 
present  those  dangers  which  arise  from  the  latitudinarianism  of 
most  of  the  other  German  theological  schools.  So  far,  indeed,  as 
concerns  latitudinarianism  of  interpretation,  the  danger  is  very 
little.  On  this  question  Hengstenberg  is  here  supreme;  and  I 


136  MEMOIR   OF 

presume  there  is  no  living  theologian  whose  views,  as  to  inspira 
tion  and  authenticity,  are  more  rigid  and  uncompromising. 

"  You  ask  as  to  the  expense.  It  is  much  lower  than  you  would 
suppose.  Furnished  rooms,  equal  to  the  best  of  those  of  our 
American  seminaries,  can  be  had  for  from  $6  to  $7  a  month. 
Meals  ought  not  to  cost  more  than  $2.50  a  week,  for  living  in  this 
respect  is  very  low  and  very  comfortable.  The  expense  for  lec 
tures  is  about  $20  for  the  winter.  I  am  clear,  however,  that  no 
one  should  come  over  without  having  first  learned  enough  of  the 
language  to  enable  him  at  least  to  read  fluently. 

"  The  American  element  among  the  students  is  large  and  grow 
ing.  Last  year  there  were  forty  Americans  attending  the  lectures. 
— The  indications  are  that  this  year  there  will  be  sixty.  Nor  is 
the  American  religious  element  idle.  A  prayer  meeting  of  Ameri 
can  residents  is  held  weekly.  A  little  chapel,  which  will  hold  over 
an  hundred  seats,  is  open  for  American  religious  services  every 
Sunday.  When  clergymen  are  in  attendance — and  there  is  in  this 
respect  no  denominational  limitation — there  is  service  every  after 
noon.  When  such  is  not  the  case,  the  American  Ambassador, 
Gov.  Wright,  conducts  a  Bible  class,  which  during  this  summer 
averaged  t\venty.  I  cannot,  indeed,  let  this  opportunity  pass  with 
out  paying  tribute  to  the  Christian  fidelity,  as  well  as  to  the  personal 
liberality  and  hospitality  by  which  the  American  legation  at  Berlin 
is  distinguished. 

"  One  other  movement  in  the  missionary  way  will  perhaps  strike 
you  with  surprise.  Both  here  and  at  Bremen  there  is  a  regularly 
established  mission  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  At 
Bremen  there  is  a  publishing  office  which  sells  books  to  the  amount 
of  $30,000  annually,  and  a  church  which  is  very  largely  attended. 
Here  there  is  a  Sunday  school  every  Sunday  morning,  German 
service  every  Sunday  evening,  and  two  German  lectures  during  the 
week. 

"  BREAKING  UP  OF  PRUSSIAN  COMPULSORY  UNITY. 

"  How,  you  may  ask,  does  this  introduction  of  a  new  Protestant 
communion  accord  with  the  alleged  intolerance  of  the  Prussian 
established  church?  As  the  answer  to  this  involves  points  of 
much  practical  as  well  as  theoretical  interest,  permit  me  to  say  one 
or  two  words  beforehand  by  way  of  explanation.  The  Protestant 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  137 

Church  at  the  Reformation,  as  is  well  known,  was  divided  into  two 
great  bodies.  The  first  of  these,  the  Lutheran,  or,  as  it  styled 
itself,  the  Evangelical,  held  to  a  view  of  the  sacraments  and  of 
church  authority,  which  was  more  or  less  tinged  with  what  we  now 
would  call  sacramentarianism.  The  second,  the  Calvinistic,  or 
Reformed,  ascribed  to  the  sacraments  no  inherent  power,  rejected 
the  idea  of  bodily  presence  altogether,  and  denied  to  the  visible 
church  the  possession  of  supernatural  virtue.  Both  held  with 
equal  vigor  what  we  call  the  doctrines  of  grace ;  both  used  lan 
guage  in  reference  to  predestination  which  we  now  would  call 
highly  Calvinistic,  both  held  to  the  validity  of  Presbyterian  ordi 
nation. 

"  I  need  not  refer  to  the  distressing  controversies  between  these 
bodies.  It  is  enough  now  to  say  that,  for  at  least  two  centuries, 
statesmen  as  well  as  divines  have  been  active  in  the  effort  to  heal 
a  breach  whieh  seemed  so  disastrous  to  the  common  cause.  Fore 
most  in  this  work  stood  the  electors  of  Brandenburg,  afterwards 
kings  of  Prussia,  who  attached  themselves  to  the  Reformed  body. 
At  kist  Frederick  William  III.  took  the  occasion  of  the  freeing  of 
the  country  from  the  French  yoke,  to  issue  the  celebrated  proclama 
tion  of  September  27, 1817,  invoking  a  union  of  the  two  confessions 
on  the  approaching  centennial  celebration  of  the  Reformation.  The 
proposition  was  accepted  by  the  Reformed  in  Prussia  almost  unani 
mously,  and  by  the  Lutheran  Synod  of  Berlin  by  a  large  majority. 
In  several  of  the  minor  German  States  (Baden  included)  the  ex 
ample  was  followed. 

"  So  far  as  this  union  was  voluntary,  and  so  far  as  it  tolerated 
the  continued  existence  of  other  forms  of  belief,  it  was  a  great  step 
in  advance.  But,  unfortunately,  the  new  church  undertook  not 
merely  to  invite,  but  compulsorily  to  annex,  the  adherents  of  other 
creeds.  The  old  High-Church  Lutherans  were  the  first  who  re 
volted  at  what  they  considered  a  very  latitudinarian  amalgamation. 
Had  they  been  let  alone,  all  would  have  been  right.  But  of  all 
immoderate  things,  the  most  immoderate  is  compulsory  moderation. 
So,  first  one  old  High-Church  Lutheran  minister  was  fined  because 
he  would  not  use  the  liturgy,  and  another  was  imprisoned  because 
he  was  fractious  in  Synod.  The  consequence  was,  that  instead  of 
there  being  two  communions,  as  before,  there  were  three — the 
Union,  the  Old  Reformed,  and  the  Old  Lutheran. 


138  MEMOIR    OF 

"In  1840,  however,  Frederick  William  IV.,  under  much  wiser 
counsels,  recognized  and  licensed  the  Old  Lutherans  as  an  indepen 
dent  church.  This  was  preceded  by  a  decree  declaring  that  the 
union  did  not  absorb  the  two  confessions,  but  that  each  continued 
to  retain  its  distinct  authority  and  integrity.  And  now,  by  a  very 
recent  decree,  all  the  obligatory  laws,  requiring  the  education  of 
children  in  the  State  Church,  are  cancelled.  How  this,  at  present, 
works,  I  will  take  another  period  to  state. 

"F.  W." 

PROTESTANT  SISTERHOOD. 

"  Berlin  is  the  site  of  the  central  Deaconess  Institute,  whose 
branches  are  now  actively  and  beneficently  at  work  not  merely  in 
Prussia,  bat  in  the  foreign  missionary  field.  Under  the  special 
charge  of  the  mother  institute  is  the  Bethany  Hospital,  to  which  I 
yesterday  paid  a  visit.  The  institution  was  originally  under  royal 
control,  but  its  management  has  now  passed  into  the  hands  of  a 
board  of  an  unequivocally  religious  character.  The  domestic  order 
of  the  house  rests  entirely  with  the  deaconesses.  As  the  practica 
bility  of  such  an  arrangement  as  this  has  been  largely  discussed 
among  ourselves,  I  may  be  pardoned  for  stopping  to  notice  its 
working  in  the  present  instance. 

"One  thing  struck  me  at  the  outset  as  very  remarkable.  At 
Milan,  a  city,  where  of  all  others  ecclesiastics  abound,  and  where, 
after  the  battles  of  Magenta  and  Solferino,  the  hospitals  were 
thronged  with  sick  and  wounded  Roman  Catholics,  I  went  through 
wards  containing  several  thousand  patients,  without  seeing  more 
then  half  a  dozen  Sisters  of  Charity.  The  main  hospital  was  on  a 
distinctly  religious  foundation,  and  yet,  when  the  inquiry  as  to  where 
the  sisters  were,  the  answer  was  that  they  did  not  attend  very 
largely,  and  that  the  greater  part  of  the  work  was  done  by  hired 
servants.  It  is  otherwise,  however,  with  the  Bethany  Hospital,  at 
Berlin.  There  are  here  about  three  hundred  beds,  with  an 
average  of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  patients.  On  these 
sixty  of  the  sisters  are  in  attendance.  I^or  is  their  work  purely 
sentimental.  Here  is  the  kitchen,  where  there  is  a  most  admirable 
application  of  steam  to  cooking.  There  comes  a  sister,  and  one 
whose  manner  and  appearance  show  no  want  of  refined  culture. 


DK.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  139 

It  is  no  errand  of  mere  elegance,  however,  that  she  is  on.  She  has 
in  her  hand  a  heavy  kettle,  filled  with  the  materials  for  soup.  No 
'  servants'  are  around  to  help  her,  though  some  of  the  heavier  work 
of  the  outer  kitchen  is  thus  divided.  She  goes,  however,  alone  to 
the  large  cauldron  in  which  the  soup  for  the  evening  is  to  be  pre 
pared,  and  there,  after  an  amount  of  fetching,  carrying,  ladling 
and  turning,  which  would  astonish  the  more  delicate,  the  little  lake 
of  soup  finally  seethes  and  boils.  I  could  not  see  that  the  work 
was  done  less  effectively  from  the  fact  that  it  was  a  gentlewoman 
that  did  it.  But  of  one  thing  I  am  sure.  There  was  an  air  not 
only  of  neatness  but  of  elegance  about  the  work,  which  merely 
hired  help  could  not  have  secured. 

"  So  it  was  with  the  wards  for  the  little  children.  One  of  the 
most  trying  things  about  our  common  hospitals,  is  the  hardness 
with  which  little  sick  children  are  treated.  Coleridge  said  that 
great  reverence  was  due  a  child,  as  in  itself,  so  lately  from  the 
Divine  presence,  as  embodying  so  profound  a  mystery,  as  so  open 
in  its  momentous  mission,  to  be  affected  by  the  mere  negligences  of 
those  who  surround  it.  I  could  not  help  thinking  of  this  when 
observing  the  gentle  dignity  of  the  attentions  which  were  paid  to 
this  sick-nursery.  The  self-respect  of  the  little  patients  was  scrupu 
lously  preserved  by  the  neatest  surroundings.  Kemarkable  little 
.caps,  so  white  and  snug — snowy  sheets,  so  soberly  folded  down 
above  and  tucked  in  underneath — tidy  little  pillows,  s\velling  out 
with  that  attentive  and  deferential  look,  so  comforting  to  the 
stranger  when  he  arrives  at  a  strange  inn — the  little  tables,  on 
which  stood  little  tumblers  and  mugs — not  big  ones — so  that  the 
little  patients  might  feel  that  things  were  really  meant  for  them,  and 
that,  friendless  as  they  may  have  been  before,  there  were  those 
here  to  care  for  them  and  love  them,  particularly,  for  all  that 
they  were  so  little — a  little  square  play-ground,  in  the  middle  of 
the  room,  with  a  careful  railing  round  it,  so  that  the  children 
might  not  get  hurt  or  lost ;  all  these  things  showed  a  tender  heart 
as  well  as  a  comprehensive  and  judicious  mind.  It  is  hard  to  see 
this,  and  to  learn  that  this  kind  of  aid  is  given  without  clashing 
with  the  medical  authorities — is  unpaid,  and  as  such,  is  far  more 
economical  than  the  ordinary  system  of  a  paid  help — is  disconnected 
with  religious  or  other  sentimentalism — without  feeling  that  such 
institutions  as  these  may  be  safely  extended  even  in  our  own  land. 


140  MEMOIR   OF 

"  In  One  respect  the  buildings  of  the  Bethany  Hospital,  noble 
as  they  are,  are  inferior  to  those  of  St.  Luke's,  New  York.  There 
the  Avards  radiate  from  the  chapel  in  such  a  way,  that  divine  ser 
vice  can  be  heard  by  every  patient.  Here  the  chapel  is  distinct, 
and  such  patients  only  as  are  convalescent  can  attend  public  wor 
ship.  This  difficulty,  however,  is  obviated  by  the  admirable 
arrangements  of  the  deaconesses. — They  hold  prayer  meetings, 
consisting  of  short  family  worship,  every  morning  and  evening 
in  each  of  the  several  wards.  Biblical  instruction  is  given  by  them 
to  such  as  are  able  to  attend.  And  besides  this,  the  whole  building 
is  under  the  general  charge  of  a  pastor,  who  preaches  regularly  and 
administers  the  sacraments. 


"  Few  points  in  German  theology  are  so  misunderstood  as  those 
which  relate  to  the  position  of  the  High  Lutherans.  We  are  apt 
to  confound  them  with  the  English  and  American  High  Church 
men  and  Sacramentariaus,  and  to  suppose  that  the  two  schools  hold 
the  same  general  vjews.  This,  however,  is  far  from  being  the  case. 
The  High  Anglican  could  not  stand  two  sermons  from  the  High 
Lutheran.  I  have  never  heard  such  rigid,  uncompromising  Cal 
vinism  as  from  the  leading  High  Lutheran  divines.  Personal  elec 
tion — the  absolute  freedom  of  grace — the  imputation  of  Christ's 
righteousness — justification  by  faith  alone — the  necessity  of  a 
miraculous  change  of  heart — are  here  set  forth  with  a  boldness 
and  precision,  at  which  there  are  few  of  our  American  congrega 
tions  who  would  not  be  startled.  On  the  other  hand,  the  sacra 
ments  are  invested  with  a  mysterious  power  which  it  is  hard  to 
distinguish  from  the  opus  operatum  of  the  Roman  Catholics. 
Language  in  this  respect  is  used,  not  in  preaching,  but  in  dog 
matic  teaching,  which  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  English  Sacra- 
mentarians,  and  which  is,  therefore,  in  singular  contrast  with  the 
highly  evangelical  character  of  the  sermons  generally. 

"  But  besides  this,  the  High  Lutheran  holds  the  most  extrava 
gant  notions  of  ministerial  authority.  This  is  not  because  of  any 
apostolical  succession,  for  that  he  rejects.  The  extreme  call  of  the 
Church,  however,  and  the  inward  call  of  the  Spirit,  unite  in  giving 
the  priest  almost  indefinite  prerogatives.  The  last  number  of  Dr. 
Hengstenberg's  paper  gives  a  discussion  on  the  point  which  shows 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  141 

how  high  these  claims  are.  A  young  clergyman,  it  is  said,  found 
his  congregation  becoming  very  slack  in  attendance  on  church.  He 
went  to  the  mayor  of  the  village  in  order  to  enter  a  complaint. 
The  mayor  had  on  his  cap,  which  he  did  not  take  off.  '  Which 
office  is  the  higher/  said  the  clergyman, '  that  of  the  mayor  or  the 
priest  ?'  '  The  priest/  said  the  mayor.  '  Then  take  off  your  cap, 
and  direct  all  the  village  to  attend  church  next  Sunday/  The 
mayor  quelled,  according  to  the  narrator,  by  the  minister's  spirit, 
did  as  he  was  told,  and  the  next  Sunday  the  church  was  filled.  And 
equally  authoritative  was  the  conduct  of  another  young  minister, 
who,  when  he  found  his  congregation  getting  up  to  avoid  an 
obnoxious  service,  planted  himself  at  the  door,  and  told  them  that 
to  get  out  they  would  have  to  go  over  his  body.  These  examples, 
the  editor  prudently  tells  us,  are  not  given  for  specific  imitation, 
but  to  show  what  is  the  proper  degree  of  ministerial  pluck. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say,  also,  that  the  High  Lutherans  err  very 
much  in  their  treatment  of  other  Protestant  communions.  The 
more  uncompromising  of  them — the  old  Lutherans — hold  that  it 
is  better  to  commune  with  a  Romanist  than  with  a  Calvinist. 
Even  many  of  those  who  have  entered  into  the  union  of  the  two 
confessions,  treat  their  Reformed  brethren  with  supercilious  dis 
trust. 

"  In  another  point  not  only  the  High  Lutherans,  but  the  ortho 
dox  divines  generally,  have  made  a  great  error.  They  persist  in 
treating  liberalism  in  religion  and  liberalism  in  politics,  as  one  and 
the  same  thing.  Only  the  other  day,  at  a  clerical  meeting  in  Sile 
sia,  it  was  declared  that  obedience  was  a  Christian,  independence  a 
Cossack  virtue.  This  does  not  hinder  these  nominally  so  submis 
sive  subjects  from  being  excessively  fractious  whenever  the  govern 
ment  attempts  in  any  way  to  liberalize  the  Church.  The  error, 
however,  shows  itself  in  a  constant  denunciation  of  republicanism 
and  political  freedom  of  thought.  Even  some  of  the  mildest  and 
best  of  the  orthodox  divines  have  made  this  mistake.  Tholuck's 
unction,  and  Krummacher's  fire,  are  thus  occasionally  misapplied. 
The  consequence  has  been  greatly  to  weaken  the  Church  by  driving 
from  it  men  of  independent  political  opinion. 


142  MEMOIR  OF 

"PARTIES  IN  THE  NATIONAL  CHURCH. 

"As  the  National  or  Union  Church  now  stands,  it  is  divided 
into  three  distinct  parties.  The  first  of  these,  or  centre,  embraces 
those  who  hold  to  an  ex  animo  acceptance  of  such  points  in  the 
Lutheran  and  Reformed  confessions  as  are  common  to  both,  and 
to  a  liberty  of  opinion  in  all  other  points.  To  this  class  belong,  I 
cannot  but  think,  the  great  body  of  the  most  earnest  and  faithful 
of  the  German  divines.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  Tholuck, 
Krummacher,  Nitzsch,  Twesten,  Hoffmann,  Stier,  Baumgarten, 
Ullmann,  Dorner,  Herzog  and  Jacobi. 

"  The  right  wing,  to  adopt  Dr.  Schaff  's  classification,  includes 
the  High  Lutherans,  who,  though  agreeing  to  the  union,  retain 
their  distinctive  sacramentarian  and  sacerdotal  views,  and  their 
distinctive  Lutheran  loyalty.  The  theological  leader  of  this  party 
is  Hengstenberg,  so  well  known  in  America  for  his  admirable  com 
mentaries  on  the  Old  Testament,  and  his  vigorous  and  unflinching 
vindication  of  the  integrity  and  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Text. 
With  him  are  Stahl,  eminent  as  the  most  retrogressively  conserva 
tive  of  Prussian  jurists  and  statesmen  ;  Goschel,  a  layman  of 
marked  talent,  and  Biichsel,  a  most  genial  man  and  faithful 
preacher,  who  now  holds  the  important  post  of  General  Superin 
tendent  (Bishop)  at  Berlin.  The  King,  during  the  last  years  of  his 
administration,  was  much  induced  to  favor  this  party,  with  whose 
political  views  he  agreed.  The  present  Prime  Regent,  however, 
has  taken  decided  ground  against  them,  and  it  is  not  likely  that 
High  Lutheranism  will  retain  the  ascendancy  it  had  reached  before 
the  King's  abdication.  On  the  other  hand,  the  young  men  in  the 
Church  drift  very  much  in  this  direction.  There  is  an  enthusiasm 
and  singleness  about  Hengstenberg  which  is  very  attractive  to  an 
earnest- minded  student.  His  ascendancy  here  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  while  four  hundred  often  attend  his  lectures,  not  more  than  a 
dozen  are  present  at  those  of  his  semi-rationalistic  associate,  who 
lectures  on  the  same  topics  at  the  same  hour. 

"The  left  wing  includes  the  latitudinarians,  who  may  be  likened 
to  the  extreme  Broad  Churchmen  of  the  Maurice  school  in  England. 
At  the  head  of  this  party  Bunsen,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  has  now 
placed  himself. — With  him,  though  representing  different  degrees  of 
religious  and  political  liberalism,  are  Krause  and  Count  Schwerin. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  143 

Dr.  Jonas,  whose  death  occurred  last  week,  was  a -leader  of  this 
school. 

"  It  is  from  the  last  school  alone  that  I  should  apprehend  any 
deleterious  influence  on  American  students.  However  illiberal  the 
political  views  of  the  two  former  may  be,  they  cannot  affect  the 
practical  experience  of  any  right-minded  American,  or  impress  him 
with  the  truth  of  government  Jure  divino.  And  they  unite  in  teach 
ing  the  doctrines  of  grace  with  an  emphasis  and  positiveness  which 
American  divines  would  do  well  to  study.  No  American  student 
can  be  hurt  in  his  politics  by  attending  the  Conservative  lectures  ; 
many  Americans  would  be  injured  in  their  religion  by  attending 
those  of  the  Liberals. 

"THE  BROTHERS  OF  THE  ROUGH-HOUSE. 

"  In  my  last  letter  I  gave  you  a  sketch  of  half  a  day  in  the  life  of 
the  boys  in  the  Rough-House  of  Hamburg.  How,  is  the  question 
you  would  naturally  put,  are  these  boys  managed  ?  These  twelve 
or  fifteen  families,  each  containing  twelve  or  fifteen  boys — boys, 
many  of  them  with  no  previous  training  but  what  was  bad — who 
cares  for  them,  guides  them  with  sure  hand  and  eye,  and  leads 
them,  not  merely  in  the  way  of  order  and  improvement,  but  in  the 
way  of  life?  And  then  these  groups  of  boy-laborers — of  little 
carpenters,  cobblers,  bakers,  weavers,  tailors — who  leads  them  ?  In 
all  these  studies  you  prescribe  who  are  the  teachers  ?  Who  are,  the 
rare  men  who  are  capable  of  keeping  together  in  harmonious  work 
ing,  parts  so  numerous  and  distinct,  so  that  all  the  advantages  of 
the  most  complete  individualism  are  secured,  with  all  the  order  and 
energy  of  an  efficient  centralism  ? 

"  Now  ask  the  boys  of  the  Rough-House  who  cares  for  them — 
who,  in  each  family  is  father,  teacher,  nurse  and  friend,  and  you 
will  hear  one  shout  '  the  Brother/  And  ask  these  brothers  them 
selves  who  they  are,  and  you  hear  the  following  reply,  which  I 
translate  from  their  own  words  : 

"  '  We,  the  here  assembled  brothers,  come  from  all  corners  of 
our  dear  Fatherland.  Our  home  is  in  Prussia,  in  Baden,  in 
Bavaria,  in  Hesse,  in  Wiirtemberg,  in  Thuringen,  in  Hanover,  in 
Mecklenberg,  in  Holstein,  and  in  Schleswig.  There  is  not  one  of 
us  who  before  we  came  here  was  not  in  condition  to  earn  his  daily 
bread,  whether  as  teacher  or  mechanic,  as  farmer  or  merchant,  or 


144  MEMOIR   OF 

in  whatever  other  station  he  was  placed.  Want  did  not  lead  us  to 
the  Rough -House.  But  when  in  our  distant  homes,  we  read  and 
heard  of  the  work  the  Lord  has  here  begun  and  continued,  we 
prayed  that  we  ourselves  might  be  allowed  to  take  part  in  the 
blessing  and  in  the  work.  So  one  house-father  has  called  us  here 
as  his  helps  in  this  labor.  And  no  one  of  us  has  obeyed  this  call 
without  his  parent's  blessing. 

"  '  Gold  or  land  has  none  of  us  brought  to  the  Rough-House ; 
and  when  some  of  us  could  and  would  have  done  so,  wiser  counsels 
than  those  of  our  own  declined  to  receive  the  gift.  What  we  all 
have,  however,  that  we  do  give,  our  whole  selves  as  thank-offer  ings 
to  God.  Whatever  we  may  have  learned,  whatever  inner  or  outer 
skill  or  handiness  any  of  us  has  acquired,  or  may  acquire  here, 
that  is  here  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  boys  of  the  Rough- 
House,  to  whom  we  would  be  as  brothers,  and  this  until  he  who 
called  us  here  will  send  us  forth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  who  will 
open  the  way  in  which  we  are  to  walk.  So  do  we  here  stand  with 
our  house-father  and  the  whole  Rough-House  in  one  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ,  our  Saviour  and  Lord.  We  are  but  unprofitable  servants  ; 
Christ  is  our  righteousness,  his  word  alone  is  the  light  of  our  feet. 
We  are  not  our  own  but  his,  and  serve  him,  although  in  all  meek 
ness,  yet  in  that  truth  and  hope  which  he  never  refuses  to  those 
who  ask.  In  this  faith  and  spirit  we  are  one,  and  hold  ourselves  as 
dear  brothers  in  the  faith,  and  in  the  labors  that  are  presented  to  us.' 

"  Here  it  is  that  we  find  the  impulse  that  brings  and  keeps  these 
brothers  together.  The  nerve  of  the  whole  lies  in  the  positive  and 
resolute  Christian  character,  both  of  the  body  and  of  the  individual 
members.  The  unity  of  the  movement  springs  from  a  living  faith 
in  Christ,  and  in  a  practical  application  of  the  doctrine  of  the  com 
munion  of  saints,  not  merely  with  the  present,  but  the  absent. 

"  The  brotherhood  of  the  Rough-House  now  consists  of  about 
two  hundred,  of  whom  from  thirty  to  forty  are  on  an  average  re 
tained  in  the  institution  to  labor  among  the  children,  and. to  prepare 
for  similar  missions  outside.  Let  us;  in  order  to  understand  the 
movement  more  fully,  view  first 

"THE  BRETHREN  AT  HOME. 

"  Go  first  to  the  garden,  and  there  you  will  find,  in  separate  cot 
tages,  groups  of  from  five  to  seven  brothers  domiciled  together. 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  145 

Each  of  these  distinct  homes  are  governed  by  fixed  rules,  its  in 
mates  doing  all  household  work  with  their  own  hands.  One 
brother  takes  the  lead  in  the  household  management,  and  is  respon 
sible  therefor ;  another,  who  is  called  the  '  Family  Brother/  is  the 
leader  of  the  groups  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  boys,  who  are  col 
lected  in  the  same  house.  The  '  Family  Brother'  is  brought  into 
clos3  relatipnship  with  the  boys,  being  with  them  by  day  and  night, 
at  their  meals,  at  their  work,  at  their  play.  Besides  this,  they  lead 
the  boys  both  in  their  work  and  in  their  studies.  Be  it  spinning, 
shoemaking,  printing;  be  it  cyphering,  writing,  or  the  sciences, 
there  a  brother  presides  in  each  group,  learning  by  teaching,  and 
not  only  keeping  the  school  in  Christian  harmony  and  development, 
but  fitting  himself  for  his  own  future  mission. 

"THE  BROTHERS  ABROAD. 

"  From  the  report  of  1856  I  gather  the  following  details  of  the 
fields  in  which  the  brothers  who  have  left  the  institution  are  now 
laboring : — 

173  in  the  management  of  houses  of  refuge. 
50  in  work,  and  poor-houses. 
38  as  city  missionaries,  of  whom  there  are  representatives  in  New  York  and 

New  Orleans. 
23  in  orphan  houses. 

83  as  moral  instructors  or  wardens  in  prisons. 
14  as  nurses  in  hospitals. 
65  as  teachers. 

67  in  other  capacities,  among  which  are  colporteurs,  and  emigrant  missions  in 
America,  where  nine  of  the  whole  number  are  now  laboring. 

"  The  objectionable  features  of  the  Romish  fraternities  are  re 
moved  from  that  of  the  Rough-House.  There  is  here  no  vow  of 
obedience  or  of  celibacy.  There  is  a  perfect  liberty  to  give  up  the 
mission,  whenever  a  brother  thinks  it  best.  It  speaks  very  strongly 
however,  for  the  faith  and  spirit  of  self-denial  and  mutual  love  of 
the  brothers  of  the  Rough-House,  that  very  few  have  given  up  the 
work.  One  or  two  reasons  may  explain  this.  One  is  the  ardent 
piety  and  faith  with  which  the  whole  institution  is  charged.  Under 
this  we  may  notice,  the  admirable  mechanism  Dr.  Wichern  has  here 
put  in  action.  He  is  the  centre  of  an  active  correspondence  which 
binds  to  the  common  home  the  brothers  engaged  in  works  of  out 
side  mercy.  He  receives  the  numerous  applications  for  aid  which 
10 


146  MEMOIR    OF 

are  made  to  him  from  all  quarters  of  Christendom,  and  he  details 
to  each  specific  duty  the  brother  whom  he  thinks  best  fitted  for  it. 
Without  his  assent  the  post  cannot  be  resigned,  and  then  the  brother 
thus  at  large  returns  to  the  Common  Home  to  be  again  recommis- 
sioned.  Even  in  a  purely  worldly  point  of  view,  the  system  is  very 
advantageous  to  the  capable  and  industrious.  The  recommendation 
from  the  Rough-House  authorities  secures  the  confidence  of  the 
whole  religious  and  charitable  community.  Such  is  the  trust  in 
them,  and  particularly  in  the  exactness  and  the  conscientiousness 
of  Dr.  Wichern's  supervision,  that  the  most  important  posts  con 
nected  with  the  charities  of  Europe  now  seek  their  acceptance. 

"  Let  me  give  an  illustration  of  the  beneficent  working  of  the 
Rough-House  brotherhood.  In  1848  Upper  Silesia  was  devastated 
by  an  epidemic  typhus  fever.  Death  and  misery  entered  nearly 
every  household.  The  heart  of  all  Germany  was  touched.  Money 
came  in  liberally,  but  this  was  not  enough.  There  were  the  sick  to 
be  nursed,  and  the  widows  and  fatherless  to  be  cared  for.  Dr. 
Wichern  called  the  brothers  then  at  the  Central  home  'together, 
and  asked  which  of  them  would  go  with  him  to  this  work.  All 
craved  to  go,  but  only  ten  were  necessary,  and  ten  were  selected. 
A  great  work  of  mercy  at  once  was  opened.  The  villages  were 
crowded  with  the  sick  and  dying.  Thousands  of  orphans  were 
wandering  helpless  through  the  land.  So  great  was  the  pestilence 
that  hundreds  were  at  one  time  buried  in  a  common  grave.  There 
the  brothers  of  the  Rough-House  found  their  place.  There  for 
months  they  labored,  and  they  brought  health  to  the  sick  and  solace 
to  the  desolate.  They  organized  hospitals  where  the  first  were  cared 
for,  and  asylums  where  the  latter  found  a  home.  And  they  have 
received  one  of  the  rarest  recompenses  which  religious  history 
records.  Within  the  very  jurisdiction  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
evangelical  orphan-houses  were  established,  two  of  which  remain 
to  this  day  under  the  control  of  the  brothers  of  the  Rough-House. 
Christian  loveliness  and  zeal  so  far  conquered  sectarian  prejudice, 
that  a  Romish  community  placed  its  chief  charities  in  Protestant 
hands. 

"  I  must  now  close  with  noticing  one  feature  about  the  Rough- 
House  brotherhood  which  affected  me  very  deeply.  It  is  the  inter 
cessory  prayer  which  they  keep  up  among  themselves.  '  Through 
God's  grace/  says  Dr.  Wichern,  ( this  has  never  failed.'  I  have 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  147 

already  noticed  the  intercessory  prayers  in  the  school  at  large.  But 
besides  this,  there  is  a  solemn  communion  in  prayer  of  all  the 
brothers,  present  or  absent,  on  the  first  of  ea«h  month.  Those  in 
the  Brother-House  assemble  in  the  Hall,  those  elsewhere  in 
solitude  before  the  throne  of  grace.  There  they  intercede,  '  one 
for  another,  and  all  for  all.'  There  special  prayers  arise  for  each 
brother  by  name.  And  once  a  year,  on  Good  Friday,  and  on  the 
first  Sunday  in  Advent,  the  same  solemnities  are  observed  at  the 
Holy  Communion. 

"F.  W." 

"  ROME,  November  14th,  1859. 
"  MY  DEAR : 

"  I  am  afraid  that  you  will  find  the  accompanying  copy  of '  Hil- 
lard's  Italy'  a  good  deal  the  worse  for  wear.  I  made  it  a  guide 
book,  for  which  purpose  I  think  it  is  next  to  Murray. 

"  I  think  you  will  find  in  Rome  a  great  deal  of  real  practical  in 
terest  and  value.  I  hope  you  will  not  entirely  reject  Murray.  If 
you  will  stand  on  the  tower  on  the  Capitol  Hill  with  Murray's 
plan  of  the  Forum  in  your  hand,  you  will  be  able  to  trace  out  the 
whole  profile  of  the  ancient  buildings.  It  is  a  sight  which  hours 
can  be  well  spent  on,  in  successive  days.  "With  this  I  think  it  will 
be  well  to  take  the  last  chapters  of  Gibbon's  '  Decline  and  Fall,' 
which  treat  of  the  various  changes  in  the  Forum.  The  streets  here 
are  even  worse  than  those  of  Florence.  I  do  not  think  that  a  lady 
can  walk  in  them  without  an  escort.  And  then  the  dirt !  Bad  as 
Florence  is,  I  think  that  Rome  in  this  respect  carries  off  the  palm, 
from  the  very  audacity  and  intrusiveness  of  its  filth. 

"  I  think  also  you  will  find  it  useful  to  visit  the  Reading  Room 
and  Circulating  Library  at  Piale's,  in  the  Piazza  di  Spagna.  The 
books  are  not  very  numerous,  but  are  well-chosen,  and  are,  I 
think,  particularly  adapted  to  the  study  of  Roman  history  and 
art 

"  With  all  the  charms  of  Europe,  and  all  the  peculiar  artistic 
and  historic  interest  of  Rome,  I  long  to  get  back  to  our  own 
America,  where  at  least  we  find  religious  earnestness.  What  there 
is  here,  is  merely  ascetic,  and  is  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  is  a 
sad  thing  to  see  how  careless  the  great  body  of  the  Protestants  are. 
Last  Sunday  the  whole  hotel,  with  fifty  or  sixty  English  and 


148  MEMOIR   OF 

Americans,  was  out  sight-seeing,  with  a  few — very  few — excep 
tions.  It  is  a  place,  I  think,  that  requires  peculiar  watching  of 
the  heart. 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"F.  W." 

"Ox    BOARD    THE  *  ARAGO.' 

"Dec.  13th,  1859. 
"  MY  DEAR : 

"  I  suppose  you  are  by  this  time  enjoying  yourselves  in  Rome. 
I  send  you  by  this  mail  a  few  of  the  late  ( Recorders/  and  I  cannot 
help  wishing,  notwithstanding  my  unabated  Americanism,  that  I 
could  somehow  be  mailed  with  the  papers,  and  turn  up  with  them 
for  a  few  days  at  Rome.  Of  all  European  cities  it  is  the  richest, 
and  the  one  which  I  am  sure  you  will  most  enjoy.  The  Vatican  is 
worth  a  week's  study  by  itself— I  hope  you  will  particularly  visit 
the  Christian  gallery  at  the  Lateran.  The  contrast  between  the 
simplicity  and  Gospel  purity  of  the  inscriptions,  and  the  tawdry 
superstition  of  those  in  the  churches,  is  well  worth  study.  I  hope 
also  that  you  will  visit  the  cemeteries  lately  opened  in  the  Appian 
Way.  I  have  seen  few  things  which  so  vividly  reproduced  the 
old  Roman  customs. 

"  I  was  very  much  surprised  to  learn  a  short  time  since,  in  a 
way  which  did  not  admit  of  much  dispute,  of  a  positive  evangelical 
movement  in  Florence.  Prayer  meetings  are  held  periodically, 
and  religious  services  on  Sunday.  Even  the  '  Times/  which  has 
heretofore  so  much  queried  the  truth  of  such  statements,  and  has 
taken  so  skeptical  a  view  of  religion  generally,  admits  that  the 
movement  is  a  real  one.  I  found,  also,  on  paying  a  visit  to  Basle 
a  few  days  since,  that  a  similar  movement,  only  far  more  widely 
spread,  is  extending  in  Wiirtemberg.  The  persons  interested  do 
not  dissent  from  the  established  church,  which  there  is  Lutheran, 
but  is  very  dry,  but  worship  inside  of  it,  holding  social  meetings 
at  such  times  as  do  not  interfere  with  the  regular  services,  as  was 
the  way  with  the  early  Wesleyaus.  So  earnest  is  the  foreign  mis 
sionary  spirit  with  them,  that  they  have  as  many  as  twenty  young 
men,  springing  from  their  midst,  who  are  preparing  for  the  work 
of  foreign  missionaries.  I  must  say  that  the  Basle  seminary,  where 
these  young  men  are  studying,  was  one  of  the  most  delightful  spots 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  149 

I  visited  in  Europe To-morrow  we   reach   Southampton. 

At  present  we  are  about  half  way  across  the  channel,  and  are  medi 
tating  (or  at  least  the  captain  is,  with  the  aid  of  some  thirty  or  forty 
of  the  passengers),  chartering  a  small  steamer,  and  visiting  the  Great 
Eastern.  But  it  looks  now  as  if  we  might  have  quite  a  breeze,  and 
if  so,  I  suspect  some  at  least  of  the  party  will  give  out.  At  all 
events,  I  will  have  the  opportunity  of  mailing  this  note  and  a  copy 
of  the  latest  '  Recorder.7  There  is  a  growing  swell  on  the  channel, 
though  the  '  Arago'  certainly  moves  less  under  her  machinery  than 
any  boat  I  ever  was  in.  Still  I  realize  that  even  in  the  '  Arago'  it 
is  possible  to  feel  a  little  dizzy, — and  that  even  were  writing  easy, 
reading  afterwards  might  be  very  difficult. 

"  Very  sincerely  yours, 

"F.  W." 

Shortly  after  his  return  from  Europe  he  became  engaged  to  a 
daughter  of  Lewis  R.  Ashhurst,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  and  was 
married  on  December  27th  of  the  same  year  (1860). 

Some  letters  he  wrote  in  anticipation  of  this  event  will  show  the 
cheerful  and  playful  tone  he  imparted  to  daily  life,  and  also  give 
an  idea  of  his  occupations  and  surroundings  at  Gambler. 


150  MEMOIR   OF 


CHAPTER    VI. 

LIFE   AT   GAMBIER. (Concluded.) 

"MONDAY,  Sep.  3d,  '60. 


DEAR 


"  I  am  writing  a  feV  lines  in  the  cars  to  say  that  I  am  quite 
well  —  almost  the  better  for  my  indisposition  of  yesterday.  The 
day  is  very  lovely.  The  sunlight  forms  a  golden  flood  on  the 
Susquehanuah,  by  whose  banks  we  are  travelling.  It  is  now 
about  4,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we  shall  reach  Harrisburgj  and 
then  comes  the  mountain  scenery,  We  shall  reach  Pittsburg  about 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning  ..... 

"FRIDAY. 

"  I  arrived  at  Mt.  Vernon  very  pleasantly  and  safely  at  4  o'clock 
yesterday  aft.  The  towers  and  spires  of  the  little  town  were  glit 
tering  gaily  as  we  steamed  up  ;  but  a  brighter  sight  to  my  mundane 
eyes,  was  my  carriage  and  horses.  I  would  like  to  introduce  to 
you  the  latter  characters.  They  are  very  stylish  and  gay,  of  a 
dark  brown,  and  only  colts.  Red  Jacket,  the  younger,  being  but 
four  and  Dick,  the  elder,  but  five.  Jacket,  I  am  sorry  to  say, 
is  by  no  means  a  grave  horse.  Perhaps  it  may  be  his  youth  or 
perhaps  it  may  be  his  levity  of  spirits,  but  however  this  is,  he  has 
a  remarkable  number  of  fancy  steps  which  without  making  him 
dangerous  to  drive,  attracts  to  him  very  greatly  public  attention. 
This  summer,  he  and  his  brother  took  country  boarding,  and  have 
returned  in  great  beauty  and  fine  spirits  —  Red  Jacket  having 
learned  at  his  watering  place  an  entirely  new  figure  —  a  figure  I 
am  sorry  to  say  approaching  to  a  waltz.  But  I  can  assure  you,  you 
will  be  able  to  drive  them  with  perfect  ease.  I  found  Gambier 
looking  very  lovely.  There  had  been  heavy  rain,  and  the  grass 
had  started  up  green  and  fresh.  I  feel  bound  to  say  also,  that 
Franz,  my  German  gardener,  has  done  his  vacation  much  credit. 
The  house  is  almost  covered  with  vines  and  flowers,  and  a  bed  of 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTOX.  151 

Cannas  have  grown  up  into  most  showy  and  imposing  plants.  The 
house  stands  on  the  side  of  a  hill — about  one-sixth  of  the  way 
down.  In  front  of  it  is  a  river.  The  view  from  the  front  porch 
is  really  beautiful.  It  looks  directly  west,  and  has  a  sunset  view 
of  several  miles  of  hills.  Directly  back  are  the  College  buildings, 
pictures  of  which  I  propose  to  send  you  in  a  few  days.  How  do 
you  all  do  at  C.  H—  —  ?  I  suppose  this  will  reach  you  Monday 
or  Tuesday.  I  can  picture  you  all  collected  in  the  parlor  on  Sunday 
afternoon,  your  father  reading  one  of  those  admirable  sermons. 
Tell  him  I  rarely  felt  more  impressed  than  with  those  exercises. 
Perhaps  it  is  from  my  Low  Church  proclivities,  but  I  have  a  great 
liking  for  lay-services.  For  myself,  though  I  have  a  great  prefer 
ence  for  the  Ministry,  yet  my  work  is  here.  I  can  act  more 
impressively  perhaps  on  young  men  than  on  any  other  class.  But 
I  need  your  prayers  and  my  own  for  greater  fidelity  and  zeal. 
"  How  can  we  live  at  this  poor  dying  rate  ?" 

"GAMBIER,  Sep.  9,  '60. 

"  When  I  last  wrote  I  was  just  about  going  to  dinner  on  Friday. 
It  was  a  very  warm  afternoon,  and  I  felt  very  '  mundane/  I  was 
quite  cheered  up  however,  by  the  intelligence  brought  me  by  one 
of  the  servants  that  Bp.  and  Mrs.  Bedell  had  come,  and  wanted 
me  to  come  over  and  take  some  ice  cream  with  them — of  course  I 
went,  though  it  did  not  need  this  to  tempt  me.  I  found  them 
very  cheerful  and  kind.  Mrs.  Bedell  I  think  you  will  particularly 
like.  Both  she  and  her  husband  are  full  of  hopeful  plans  for  the 
College.  I  have  rarely  seen  more  noble  Christians.  Though  she 
has  a  large  estate,  they  spare  themselves  in  no  way,  travelling  more 
than  half  the  time,  and  undergoing  all  kinds  of  fatigue.  They  are 
not  without,  however,  the  elegancies  of  life — a  fine  piano  with 
melodeon  attachment  having  arrived  for  them  yesterday.  Did  I 
tell  you  of  our  mishap  in  the  vegetable  line?  Franz,  the  gardener, 
has  been  exerting  himself  to  the  utmost  in  the  production  of  vege 
tables — beans,  cauliflowers,  tomatoes.  All  his  German  arts  were 
concentrated  on  this,  his  first  American  garden.  Unfortunately, 
however,  several  fine  apple  trees  were  in  the  garden.  Some  of  the 
school  boys  of  the  neighborhood,  finding  this  out,  proceeded  to  the 
scene  on  nights,  and  left  the  gate  open.  A  coterie  of  cows  was  visit 
ing  in  the  neighborhood,  and  finding  the  gate  open,  they  sauntered  in. 


152  MEMOIR   OF 

Nothing  was  more  natural  than  for  them  to  turn  to  the  vegetables. — 
First  came  a  snip  at  the  tomatoes/  then  the  Lima  beans,  and  then 
a  touch  of  cauliflower.  I  do  not  know  what  was  the  effect  on  the 
milk  of  the  neighborhood,  but  one  thing  is  clear,  my  vegetables 
are  finished.  One  comfort  however,  is,  Elizabeth  had  previously 
put  up  an  extraordinary  amount  of  canned  fruit  and  vegetables. 
If  a  siege  were  expected,  greater  industry  could  scarcely  have  been 
shown.  Now  peaches  are  the  great  standby.  The  country  is  bear 
ing  them  in  great  profusion.  Monday  we  got  six  bushels — all 
of  which  are  in  glass  jars.  Now,  I  hope  you  will  not  think  that  I 
am  dwelling  too  much  on  terrestrial  things,  but  I  am  determined  to 
have  everything  very  bright  in  the  future,  if  my  efforts  can  make 
them  so. 

"  I  beg  leave  to  add  a  suggestion  of  a  prudential  character. — If 
you  put  off  coming  till  mid-winter,  the  house  will  be  so  full  there 
will  be  no  getting  into  it.  Though  I  have  said  nothing  to  the 
servants  about  coming  events,  they  have  been  seized  with  a  most 
extraordinary  passion  for  storing  and  preserving,  till  the  house  is 
beginning  to  look  like  a  provision  store.  You  ought  to  see  the 
closets — like  little  organ  lofts,  fluted  with  bottles  of  brown  toma 
toes,  green  peas,  and  yellow  peaches  ranged  in  rows  for  the  sake  of 
symmetry.  Last  week  I  obtained  a  number  of  new  flowers,  which 
Franz  assures  me  will  bloom  in  Jan.  or  Feb. — But  how  little  the 
conservatory  looks  !  and  how  badly  arranged  for  ladies'  dresses ! 
The  only  passage  it  has  is  so  constructed  that  nothing  like  a  skirt 
can  pass  through  it  without  flirting  against  a  number  of  infant 
fuchsias  and  verbenas,  most  of  whom  are  anything  but  big  enough 
to  be  improved  by  a  knock." 

"GAMBIER,  Sep.  llth. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  a  fire  so  early  ?  I  have  an  open  fire  in 
the  Library,  and  am  sitting  by  it  not  at  all  impressed  by  the  un- 
congeniality  of  the  bright  sun  without  and  the  blazing  hearth 
within.  The  mountain  air,  of  which  we  have  a  touch,  is  fresh  and 
crisp,  tho'  not  cold,  and  the  wood  fire  is  a  sort  of  companion.  The 
other  companions  around  the  house  are  entirely  of  the  silent  order. 
Over  the  mantel-piece  is  an  engraving  of  Milton  sitting  at  a  table, 
writing  as  Secretary  for  Oliver  Cromwell.  Milton  is  festooned 
around  with  a  series  of  minor  characters,  among  whom  may  be 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  153 

mentioned  Napoleon,  the  Eev.  Mr.  Cooper,  St.  Jerome,  Brother 
Holden,  and  Bishop  Mcllvaine.  The  walls  are  covered  with  book 
cases,  containing  some  thousands  of  volumes. — '  As  I  glance  my 
eye  around  them,  I  find  on  my  left  hand,  an  alcove  of  light  read 
ing/  a  taste  for  which  you  know  is  my  weakness. — Then  come 
biographies  and  histories — then  theological  treatises — then  sermons 
— then  ecclesiastical  histories — then  Biblical  commentaries — then 
periodicals — then  encyclopaedias  and  dictionaries— then  text-books. 
— But  do  not  think  from  this  very  dull  enumeration  that  the  col 
lection  is  dull.  It  is  not ;  on  the  contrary  it  is  much  diversified 
and  has  a  good  many  elements  of  vivacity — and  to  increase  this  a 
series  of  very  gay  water-color  paintings  are  hung  over  the  alcoves 
lightening  extremely  the  usual  sombreness  of  a  library." — 

"NEWARK,  Sep.  loth. 


"  This  morning  I  laid  out  to  give  Franz  an  experience  in  practical 
gardening.  His  German  ideas  do  not  quite  enable  him  to  work  in 
American  style.  It  so  happens  there  is  a  gentleman  in  Newark 
(about  20  miles  from  G.),  who  is  an  accomplished  agriculturist.  So 
I  made  arrangements  to  meet  him,  and  ordered  the  horses  at  half- 
past  six.  The  drive  that  was  to  begin  at  half-past  six  saw  eight 
before  we  started,  but  it  was  very  beautiful — over  a  country  yellow 
with  corn  husks,  and  that  Indian  summery  haze.  A  '  lady'  having 
directed  us  to  go  the  '  right'  when  she  meant  '  left'  caused  us  much 
delay,  but  at  last  we  reached  N.  While  Franz  is  scourging  him 
self  over  the  very  superior  '  verbenas'  he  sees,  I  sit  down  to  write 
to  you  ....  you  say  there  is  '  nothing  to  say'  about  your  co-Id,  I 
hope  it  says  nothing  for  itself  in  the  way  of  coughing  and  bron 
chitis. —  ....  On  Monday  we  hope  to  return  laden  with  cuttings, 
etc.  Do  not  expect  too  much  from  the  greenhouse.  Its  main 
advantage  is  that  it  opens  directly  from  the  dining-room,  making 
a  sort  of  continuation  of  that  less  sentimental  apartment.  Mrs. 
Bedell  gave  me  a  book  yesterday  that  I  found  very  attractive.* 
'  The  preciousness  of  God's  Word.'  Do  get  it  and  read  it.  May 
we  follow7  its  leadings  and  do  or  suffer  His  will  as  He  appoints. 

"  I  found  everything  in  G.  in  good  order,  but  it  was  well  that 

[*  Dr.  Octavius  Winslow.] 


154  MEMOIR   OF 

I  arrived.  Both  of  my  substitutes  had  surrendered  their  posts. 
Their  books,  etc.,  were  lying  on  my  table,  and  also  the  key  of  my 
room,  indicating  that  if  I  did  not  go  that  afternoon,  nobody  would. 
Now  as  this  would  produce  a  disarrangement  of  the  whole  college, 
a  thing  which  would  have  been  afterwards  remembered,  I  felt  that- 
it  was  a  happy  thing  that  I  arrived,  trying  as  it  was  for  me  to 
start.  The  servants  had  taken  advantage  of  my  absence  to  make 
a  thorough  house*cleaning.  In  the  hall,  parlor,  and  library,  carpets 
were  down  and  a  winter  transformation  in  the  bed-rooms.  Stoves 
stick  out  their  ugly  faces  where  before  there  was  nothing  but  the 
serene  marble  of  the  mantel-pieces.  I  am  sorry  to  say  the  grounds 
are  also  changed.  They  are  looking  very  forlorn,  with  a  jaded, 
dilapidated  expression,  like  a  set  of  oldish  young  ladies  after  a  ball. 
Only  the  prim  '  imortels,'  as  Franz  calls  them  (chrysanthemums), 
hold  up  their  spry,  crisp  little  yellow  heads  as  if  in  righteous  dis 
dain  of  their  fragile  sisters.  The  greenhouse  has  however  afforded 
a  place  of  refuge  for  some  of  the  sisterhood,  and  they  look  un 
commonly  well  in  this  shelter.  The  arrivals  from  Mt.  H —  were 
received  at  first  with  mute  politeness — afterwards  with  respectful 
admiration ;  the  Begonia  is  pronounced  very  interesting  and  peculiar, 
and  the  cactus  with  a  flower  hitched  to  it  like  a  label  on  a  piece  of 
goods,  entirely  new  in  our  collection.  Coming  events,  I  suspect, 
cast  their  shadow  or  rather  their  sunlight  before — ;  the  servants 
I  suspect  have  an  inkling  from  their  extraordinary  activity. 

" Where  do  you  think  I  have  been  to-day?  What  will  you  say 
when  Bp.  Bedell,  Mrs.  B.  and  myself  have  been  at  what  it  seems 
was  a  '  Horse  race  !'  The  truth  is,  this  week  is  the  County  Agri 
cultural  Fair,  in  which  all  the  farmers  of  the  neighborhood  are 
expected  to  be  present  with  their  stock.  Now  the  stock  contains 
some  marvellous  items.  Cows,  horses,  and  pigs  you  might  expect, 
but  what  do  you  say  to  pictures  by  native  artists  of  Niagara,  and 
extraordinary  specimens  of  needle  work  from  Samplers  by  children 
of  six  years  in  the  oddest  perspective  !  Now  it  is  a  sort  of  county 
esprit  de  corps  that  everybody  should  encourage  this  Fair,  so  we 
all  concluded  to  drive  there  too.  Yesterday,  the  servants  at  my 
house  had  holiday  to  go.  Elizabeth  and  Eliza  being  dressed  up  in 
grand  style,  and  Franz  in  a  suit  of  black  broadcloth,  with  musta- 
chios  au  Victor  Emmanuel,  driving  them  in  the  open  wagon.  In 
consequence  of  this  evacuation,  I  dined  with  Mrs.  Bedell,  and 


DR.    FKANCIS    WHAKTON.  155 

to-day,  her  servants  making  a  similar  detour,  Mrs.  Bedell  and  the 
Bishop  dined  with  me.  But  before  dinner  we  determined  to  drive 
into  the  Fair  ourselves.  And  I  regret  to  say  that  we  happened 
just  at  the  hour — not  of  wholesome  exhibition  of  cows  and  pigs, 
sheep  and  pumpkins — but  of  regular  races.  For  it  seems  that 
even  the  neighborhood  of  Gambler  is  not  considered  too  severe  for 
the  entrance  of  a  party  of  sporting  characters  from  the  East  who 
brought  their  horses  with  them,  on  pretext  of  trial  of  speed,  but 
really  for  a  race  !  What  would  you  have  thought  of  our  watching 
the  proceeding,  and  wondering  how  a  horse  exhibition  could  assume 
such  exciting  dimensions,  and  finally  wondering  if  the  e  exhibition' 
were  not  a  race  ?  But  I  am  afraid  I  am  writing  wha.t  is  scarcely 
worth  reading.  ...  I  hope  to  be  with  you  on  Wed'y. 

"  Ever  y'rs, 

"F.  W." 

"  October  21st. 

"  This  is  a  gloomy  wet  day,  but  it  is  Sunday  for  all,  and  it  has 
therefore  its  own  comforts.  With  me  they  are  very  precious. 
First  come  the  early  morning  prayers  at  which  it  is  my  turn  to 
officiate.  Then  I  have  a  Bible  Class  of  Freshmen — from  15  to  20 
students,  and  which  I  feel  is  one  of  my  most  valued  privileges. 
This  morning  I  took  up  the  parables — treating  them  analytically. 
The  topic  I  began  with  was  the  power  of  the  kingdom  of  sin,  both 
within  and  without,  illustrating  this  by,  1st,  the  parable  in  refer 
ence  to  the  unwashed  hands ;  2d,  that  about  the  light  of  the  body 
being  the  eye,  and  3d,  that  of  the  strong  man  bound.  I  endea 
voured  to  use  these  so  as  to  shew  the  subjective  power  of  sin  and 
the  objective  power  of  Satan.  I  trust  the  effect  was  not  without 
use.  As  to  preaching  we  are  well  off  ....  Mr.  C.  preaches  only 
once  a  day.  He  is  just  beginning,  however,  for  Thursday  evenings, 
a  course  of  lectures  on  Genesis,  which  I  trust  you  will  hear  before 
they  are  through.  May  they  be  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  souls  ! 
I  am  just  reading  a  book  which  I  will  send  with  this,  '  Phelps' 
Still  Hour.7  It  strikes  me  not  only  as  exquisitely  beautiful — but 
as  hitting  some  of  the  weak  points  in  our  religious  character. 
Oh  for  grace  to  live  more  holily  and  prayerfully !" 


156  MEMOIR    OF 

"October  24th. 

"  We  have  had  such  glorious  weather  in  the  last  day  or  two,  as 
to  make  a  rural  contrast  not  at  all  to  the  disadvantage  of  Gambier. 
This  day  and  yesterday  have  been  so  warm  as  to  make  fires  un 
necessary — and  to  give  the  open  air  almost  irresistible  charms.  I 
have  been  improving  it  by  having  a  new  walk  built.  Quite  a 
little  piece  of  woods  has  been  added  to  my  grounds.  I  have  been 
having  these  thinned  away,  and  Franz's  skill  has  been  exercised  in 
drawing  a  walk  to  be  gravelled  over  and  shaded  for  winter  dry- 
iiess  and  summer  coolness.  I  have  in  my  own  dumb  way  been 
giving  suggestions  on  the  subject,  which,  however,  Franz,  in  his 
superiority,  .does  not  always  respect.  Still  the  work  progresses, 
and  by  November  will  be  finished  enough  for  practical  use.  I 
have  been  doing  a  little  reading  and  reviewing  in  the  last  few 
days.  Milman's  '  History  of  Latin  Xtianity'  which  (with  Mr.  P.'s 
help),  I  have  been  writing  a  notice  of,  is  very  attractive  in  the  His 
tory  line — well  worthy  of  study,  and  fully  capable  of  provoking  it, 
although  he  is  rather  hard  upon  our  friends,  the  Calvinists.  I 
regret  to  say  also,  that  I  degraded  myself  last  night  by  reading 
through  a  novel ;  though  I  saw  at  the  outset  that  it  was  weak  and 
silly.  It  is  by  Dr.  Holland,  and  is  called  '  Miss  Gilbert's  Career.' 
The  beginning  had  a  sort  of  agreeable  levity  about  it,  which 
rather  led  me  on,  getting  more  disgusted,  however,  from  page  to 
page  and  yet  with  that  perversity  we  sometimes  have  holding  on 
to  the  end.  Then  think  of  my  going  back  to  Goldsmith  !  My 
college  lectures,  in  the  last  few  days,  have  led  me  in  this  direction, 
and  yesterday  evening,  I  took  a  really  comforting  read  of  the  De 
serted  Village.  How  touch ingly  homelike  and  true  it  is  !  and 
how  Goldsmith  with  retrospective  touches  of  home  life  has  been 
without  a  rival.  And  what  a  contrast  he  is  to  the  hard  sardonic 
tone  of  Swift,  whom  I  have  taken  up  concurrently.  The  bell  is 
just  ringing  for  evening  prayers.  Bro.  C.  has  taken  up  Genesis,  but 
not  in  such  a  profoundly  learned  a  way  as  to  disturb  the  popular 

mind And  now  I  am  just  come  from  there  somewhat  tired 

with  a  rather  statistical  summary  of  the  details  of  the  Pentateuch. 
We  landed  a  great  musical  genius  at  the  Hill  during  the  last  few 
days — a  Mr.  Alfred  Pease,  an  old  student  of  the  College  who  has 
been  spending  some  two  years  at  Berlin,  where  I  met  him  last  fall. 
He  is  an  extremely  brilliant  pianist,  and  I  invited  the  College 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  157 

band,  and  the  several  musicians  on  the  Hill  to  meet  him  last  night, 
my  piano  being  about  the  best  on  the  Hill.  They  all  came,  about 
40  in  number.  As  this  is  Sunday,  I  will  put  off  telling  you  about 

it  until  to-morrow 

"  Ever  yours, 

"F.  W." 

"  The  bundle  arrived  safely,  and  greatly  did  I  wonder  what  it 
was.  First  I  looked  at  the  post-mark,  which  was  greatly  like 
Mont  Motlin  (the  Queen  of  Spain's  brother-in-law) ;  and  I  wondered 
for  a  moment  what  so  new  a  post-mark  could  have  to  do  with 
so  imposing  a  bundle.  But  I  soon  opened  it,  cautiously  and  re 
spectfully,  and  the  moment  the  green  worsted  appeared  I  knew 
what  it  was.  Now,  first  as  to  the  bag.  It  certainly  is  better  than 
it  would  have  been  if  it  had  preserved  its  original  dimensions. 
Now  it  is  abundantly  large  enough.  This  morning  at  eleven  it  is 
to  make  its  first  trip  to  college,  having  deposited  in  it  two  or  three 
volumes  of  Addison,  and  as  many  of  Johnson.  The  two  latter 
authors  form  the  topics  of  my  morning  lectures. 

"  Dreary,  wet  weather !  I  do  wonder  whether  you  are  having 
the  same  !  My  cows  are  quite  vindictive  with  disgust  at  the  rain, 
and  stand  with  their  noses  in  the  corners.  Prince  also  has  deserted 
his  usual  place  for  relaxation,  which  was  in  the  centre  of  the  grass 
plot,  and  has  taken  his  bone  (he  is  not  allowed  to  eat  meat,  and  his 
bone  is  merely  symbolical),  under  the  eaves  of  the  wood-house.  Paul 
Morphy  (the  cat),  I  regret  to  say,  got  into  the  greenhouse  last  night 
and  must  have  danced  a  polka  up  and  down  one  of  the  shelves,  for 
six  plants  were  knocked  over,  and  an  air  plant  had  half  its  ringlets 
torn  out,  probably  by  Morphy's  claws.  I  told  you  I  would  give 
you  an  account  of  my  musical  party  of  Saturday  evening.  I  in 
vited  Mr.  Pease  to  spend  the  evening,  promising  to  invite  the 

musical  genius  of  G to  meet  him.     To  keep  the  number  from 

being  too  large,  I  confined  it  to  the  young  people,  undertaking  my 
self  to  act  as  '  matron'  to  the  young  ladies.  The  result  was  three 
fold. 

"  1st.  The  College  band,  which  is  entirely  instrumental,  and  con 
sists  of  about  eight. 

"  2nd.  The  College  choir,  which  is  vocal,  and  has  about  the  same 
number. 


158  MEMOIR   OF 

"  3d.  The  village  young  ladies — distinguished  for  amiability. 

"  Then,  as  to  the  performance.  First,  a  series  of  dashing  pieces 
from  Mr.  Pease,  as  the  Lion  of  the  evening.  Then  followed  Mr. 
Houghout,  another  piano  player,  a  student  here,  and  with  great 
musical  talent.  Then  the  College  band  retired  to  the  porch  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  softness  to  their  instruments,  and  serenaded 
.the  young  ladies  through  the  windows.  Then  came  supper,  in 
which  Elizabeth,  who  was  suffering  at  the  time  with  rheumatism, 
lashed  herself  into  peculiar  activity,  for  the  purpose,  she  said,  of 
showing  how  a  sick  old  woman  could  cook.  Then,  after  supper, 
Mr.  Pease  played  again,  and  then  came  some  sacred  music  (vocal) 
from  the  College  choir.  Family  prayers  was  the  finale,  at  which  I 
was  heartily  glad  to  close  the  day  quietly." 

"  Friday  morning — . 

"  This  is,  I  suspect,  going  to  be  a  short  letter  (with  me  a  rarity). 
Nothing  could  be  more  placid  than  the  current  of  the  last  week 
socially.  After  the  musical  effort  of  last  Saturday  nothing  can  be 
expected  for  some  time,  but  the  usual  routine  of  lectures,  church 
and  driving.  I  took  Dr.  C.  a  long  and  pleasant  drive  of  from  ten 
to  fifteen  miles  yesterday,  finding  him  quite  confidential  and  very 
intelligent.  So  you  are  almost  alone  at  C.  H.  This,  in  the  Spring, 
is  comparatively  pleasant,  but  I  think  that  a  solitary  house  in  the 
Fall  is  doubly  solitary.  Everything  here  looks  so  dreary  that  I 
am  glad  you  will  not  see  it  for  the  first  time,  as  it  is.  Winter, 
with  all  its  grimness,  is  better  than  this  sad,  dishevelled  state  of 
things,  just  as  a  real  fine  head  of  gray  hair  is  preferable  to  a  wig. 
I  am  afraid  however  it  will  look  rather  stern.  The  walks  in  par 
ticular  have  a  ragged  look — inside,  however,  all  is  cheerful  and 
bright.  The  bituminous  coal  aids  in  this  and  the  carpets  and  fur 
niture  have  a  very  home-like  look.  But  still  to  some  extent  the 
life  is  a  missionary  life  !  May  God  give  us  grace  to  faithfully  dis 
charge  its  duties,  and  to  do  everything  for  His  dear  Name.  I  am 
glad  you  are  practising  on  the  piano.  Such  playing  as  yours  will 
be  a  great  comfort  to  us  on  the  winter  evenings.  So  you  are  read 
ing  Bulwer's  '  Last  of  the  Barons' — I  don't  know  that  I  have  ever 
seen  it.  '  What  shall  he  do  with  it  ?'  is  I  think  one  of  his  best. 
Nothing  can  be  finer  than  the  character  of  Arabella  Crane.  I  do 
little  reading  myself  beyond  the  subjects  of  my  lectures — which  this 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTOX.  159 

morning  were  Hawthorne  and  Poe.  I  am  about  to  begin  a  critical 
notice  of  the  Theology  of  Tennyson  for  the  '  Recorder/  which  I  hope 
you  will  have  leisure  to  read.  The  first  on  the  Theology  of  the  May 
Queen,  and  the  second  on  that  of  St.  Simon  Stylites.  I  don't  know 
that  they  will  be  worth  much,  though  I  am  trying  by  them  to  show 
the  contrast  between  a  religion  to  satisfy  the  heart  and  one  merely 
responsive,  to  philosophy.  This  letter  I  fear  will  not  amount  to 
much  more  than  a  sheet  of  blank  paper.  It  is  written  at  the  close 
of  a  very  tiring  day,  when  I  suspect  my  pen  is  almost  as  dull  as 
my  mind. 

"  Ever  y'rs, 

"F.  W." 

"Nov.  9th. 

"  Your  very  agreeable  and  kind  letter  of  Sunday  last  made  quite 
a  quick  trip  of  it — I  had  a  presentiment  it  was  to  be  here.  I  really 
think  you  do  me  injustice  as  to  the  way  your  letters  are  read.  They 
are  first  gone  through  rapidly,  to  get  a  perspective  view;  then  they 
are  read  carefully  a  second  time  ;  then  they  are  put  away  for  a  few 
days,  or  perhaps  a  day  only,  and  then  brought  out  and  read  again. 
When  there  is  a  long  delay  in  the  arrival  of  their  successor,  their 
reading  is  repeated  perhaps  a  third  or  fourth  time  as  a  sort  of  sec 
ondary  comfort.  Could  there  be  a  more  respectful  attention  paid  to 
letters  than  this? 

"  Here  the  constant  arrival  of  new  books  and  periodicals,  as  well 
as  the  large  library  distributed  through  the  house  keep  up  my  lite 
rary  activity.  I  rec'd  two  large  packages  of  books  yesterday.  One 
of  these  contained  another  instalment  of  the  Rev.  C.  B.  Taylor's 
writings,  for  which  I  confess  I  have  little  sympathy.  He  seems  to 
me  as  dim  as  Mrs.  Sherwood,  and  much  more  foolish.  Two  very 
admirable  articles  have  just  been  published  by  Bishop  Mcllvaine. 
One  on  the  '  Holy  Catholic  Church'  in  a  distinct  shape,  and  the 
other  on  '  Baptismal  Regeneration'  which  appears  in  the  '  Episco 
pal  Recorder.'  '  Littell's  Living  Age'  I  find  the  most  entertaining 
of  all  the  periodicals.  I  confess  his  selections  are  a  little  in  the 
political  line,  but  this  is  made  up  for  by  their  vivacity,  and  by  the 
fact  that  he  draws  almost  all  the  literary  talent  from  that  portion 
of  the  English  press  which  is  inaccessible  here.  I  am  trying  to 
keep  up  my  German  at  least  an  hour  every  day — Franz  not  speak- 


160  MEMOIR    OF 

ing  English,  is  an  aid  in  the  same  direction.  At  the  Faculty  Meet 
ing  last  night  there  was  a  disagreeable  question  of  College  discipline. 
We  had  an  uncommonly  long  and  troublesome  session.  One  of  the 
students,  rather  a  favourite  of  mine,  was  guilty  of  downright  in 
subordination.  He  had  to  be  dismissed  from  the  College,  but  this 
is  always  a  painful  thing  to  do,  particularly  when  it  is  associated 
with  a  prior  examination  of  the  culprit.  This  we  had  last  ev'g — 
being  kept  at  work  three  hours.  But  this  is  only  incidental  or 
rather  accidental  to  the  great  work  in  which  we  are  engaged.  I  do 
believe  that  this  College  is  united  to  the  Church,  and  I  feel  that  it 
is  a  comfort,  in  some  plain  way  to  be  doing  the  Lord's  work.  Still 
the  clouds  sometimes  will  gather. 

*  Workman  of  God,  oh  lose  not  heart, 

But  learn  what  God  is  like, 
And  in  the  darkest  battlefield 
Thou  shalt  know  where  to  strike. 

'  Oh !  learn  to  scorn  the  praise  of  men, 

Oh  !  learn  to  lose  with  God, 
For  Jesus  won  the  world  through  scorn 
And  beckons  us  his  road.' 

"  You  don't  mind  my  quoting  hymns.  I  send  you  in  full  the 
hymn  I  gave  you  from  memory  at  Berlin.  The  omitted  verses 
are : — 

'  Wherever  in  the  world  I  am, 

In  whatsoe'r  estate, 
I  have  a  fellowship  with  hearts 

To  keep  and  cultivate, 
And  a  work  of  lowly  love  to  do 
For  the  Lord  on  whom  I  wait. 

'  So  I  ask  thee  for  the  daily  strength 

To  none  that  ask  denied, 
And  a  mind  to  blend  with  outer  life 

While  keeping  at  thy  side, 
Content  to  fill  a  little  space 
If  thou  be  glorified. 

4  There  are  briars  besetting  every  path 

Which  call  for  patient  care ; 
There  is  a  cross  in  every  lot 

And  an  earnest  need  for  prayer ; 
But  a  lowly  heart  that  leans  on  thee 

Is  happy  any  where.'  " 


DE.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  161 

"SUNDAY,  Nov.  18th. 

"  I  have  a  moment  or  two,  before  going  to  Bible  Class,  to  begin 
a  letter,  trusting  to  the  rest  of  the  day  to  finish  it.  This  is  what 
we  have  not  had  for  a  long  time — a  rainy  Sunday.  Yesterday 
was  very  remarkable;  so  mild  was  it  that  the  fires  had  to  be 
put  out,  and  the  windows  and  doors  opened.  To-day,  however, 
things  look  more  like  autumn.  Everything  moves  on  here  with 
the  usual  quiet  step.  The  days  are  very  much  like  each  other, 
varied  only,  perhaps, -in  the  kind  of  study.  Sometimes  a  faint 
dash  of  dissipation  comes  to  break  the  monotony.  On  Friday,  for 
instance,  a  committee  of  the  students  came  to  inform  the  President 
that  a  concert  was  to  be  given  at  Mt.  Vernon  by  the  Continentals. 
Now,  Mt.  Vernon  is  the  Paris  of  Knox  County,  the  grand  metro 
polis  of  fashion,  and  the  l Continentals'  are  the  Musards  or  Juliens 
who  form  the  musical  taste.  At  first  the  faculty  determined  it 
would  not  be  best  for  the  students  to  go.  It  was  a  piece  of  gayety 
which  might  lead  to  difficulty,  and  difficulty  is  a  thing  college 
officers  are  very  shy  about.  But  after  a  while  the  President  re 
laxed  ;  and  as  the  boys  were  to  go,  and  it  was  a  fine  moonlight 
night,  I  determined  to  go  too.  So  I  had  Dick  and  Jack  harnessed 
up  and  put  in  the  carriage,  to  their  great  astonishment,  they  being 
accustomed  to  retire  at  six,  and  here,  instead  of  going  to  bed,  they 
were  having  their  hair  brushed,  their  clothes  put  on,  and  their  best 
wagon  fastened  behind  them.  Dick  expressed  his  surprise  by  two 
jumps  in  the  air,  and  Jack  by  standing  on  his  hind  feet.  They 
took  us  safely  there,  however,  Dick  merely  escaping  from  the 
hostler  and  taking  a  tour  of  the  town  before  recovered. 

"  Four  gentlemen  in  yellow  waistcoats,  white  trousers,  cutaAvay 
blue  coats  with  brass  buttons,  and  long  shaggy  hair  constituted  the 
'  Continentals.'  One  had  a  melodeon,  one  a  bass  viol,  one  a  violin, 
and  one  a  flute.  They  sing  as  a  quartette  also.  As  I  have  rather 
a  taste  for  music  that  is  popular  and  not  operatic — even  having  a 
latent  inclination  for  negro  minstrels, — I  was  prepared  to  relish  it. 
One  thing  they  did  sing  well — that  was  Poe's  Raven.  I  have 
always  had  a  sort  of  awe  for  that  extraordinary  poem,  and  this  was 
increased  by  the  mysterious  rhythm  to  which  the  words  were  set. 
I  am  afraid  I  have  not  written  a  very  Sundayish  letter,  and  this 
11 


102  MEMOIR   OF 

aft.  I  fell  asleep  after  dinner.     My  only  excuse  is  that  I  was  kept 

up  till  after  midnight  the  evg.  before 

"  Ever  yrs. 

k'F.  W." 

"Great  is  my  joy  to  find  that  the  sharp  frost  of  Friday  night 
has  done  none  of  the  injury  to  the  greenhouse  that  was  expected. 
The  roses,  it  is  true,  are  in  deep  mourning,  but  that  is  what  Franz 
intends  them  to  be,  as  early  in  the  winter  he  shut  them  up  in  a 
dark  room.  But  the  geraniums  are  in  high  blossom,  the  heliotropes 
have  not  shrunk,  either  in  leaf  or  bud,  and  the  only  plants  that 
look  touched  are  some  of  the  more  tropical  Begonias,  the  ends  of 
whose  fingers  were  a  little  frost-bitten.  Still  I  am  sorry  to  say,  they 
are  by  no  means  prepared  to  welcome  you  in  the  style  they  should. 
Franz  had  prepared  his  roses  and  hyacinths  for  Feb.  and  when  I 
told  him  you  would  be  here  in  three  wreeks — he  said  very  politely 
1  Ich  congratulire  Sie/  but  the  flowers  will  not  be  ready.  I  might 
have  told  him  that  the  brighest  flower  of  all  would  be  here. 
Elizabeth  and  Eliza  expressed  great  satisfaction  at  your  message. 
They  have  become  familiarized  with  the  place,  and  do  not  want  to 
leave.  You  will  find  yourself  welcomed  with  delight  by  all  your 
new  subjects.  Prince  has  outgrown  his  22-inch  collar,  and  must 
have  another.  Outside  all  is  dreary,  but  inside  the  greenhouse  is 
bright  and  the  canaries  are  singing  sweetly.  It  is  calculated  to 
make  us  feel  very  strongly  God's  goodness  and  our  own  unworthi- 
ness.  Oh  for  strength  to  live  more  completely  to  Him  ! 

"  I  feel  very  sadly  about  the  Southern  news.  I  can  only  pray 
there  will  be  no  bloodshed. 

"  Mother  is  very  anxious  about  Emily,  and  I  think  not  unnatu 
rally.  She  (Emily)  lives  on  a  plantation,  her  husband  frequently 
away,  with  very  few  white  persons  about  her  and  a  vast  crowd  of 
negroes.  Most  of  these  are  faithful  and  well  disciplined,  but  they 
are  as  ignorant  and  as  excitable  as  the  blacks  in  Philadelphia. 
Anything  like  a  spark  might  kindle  them,  and  then  the  flame 
would  be  most  disastrous.  There  is  always  danger  that  a  political 
excitement,  such  as  that  now  pending,  may  touch  this  unfortunate 
population.  I  know  no  greater  misfortune  than  to  be  born  with 
such  a  heritage ;  and  yet,  when  it  comes,  I  do  not  see  how  it  can 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  163 

be  cast  away.     To  manumit  slaves,  as  experience  shows,  is  to  inflict 
on  them  the  worst  of  injuries.     Emily  herself  writes  very  sadly." 


After  Dr.  "Wharton's  -marriage,  in  1860,  the  rumors  of  approach 
ing  war  were  beginning  to  be  heard  and  to  those  who  had  relatives 
and  friends  in  the  South  there  wTas  cause  for  grave  anxiety.  The 
College  and  Seminary  too  were  largely  affected  by  the  coming  cloud. 
Not  only  was  there  the  difference  of  opinion  among  the  students 
that  then  existed  throughout  the  country  and  all  its  institutions, 
but  there  was  an  atmosphere  of  excitement  and  restlessness  very 
unfavorable  for  calm  and  quiet  study.  Later  on,  by  Feb.  1860, 
the  Southern  students  mostly  left  the  Hill,  to  join  their  States  and 
in  many  cases  the  cause  to  which  those  States  belonged,  and  Col., 
that  is  to  say,  President  Lorin  Andrews,  drilled  and  headed  a  com 
pany  of  volunteers  to  be  ready  for  use  on  the  side  of  the  Union. 
This  state  of  things  was  very  distressing  to  our  peace-loving  and 
beloved  friend. — He  could  not  bear  coercion  on  any  point  and 
though  he  was  brought  finally  to  see  the  necessity  for  it,  it  was  a 
painful  and  unwelcome  recognition.  He  had,  however,  the  great 
comfort  of  a  happy  home  now  and  sympathizing  friends  around 
him.  His  warm  attachment  to  many  persons  at  the  Hill,  and  its 
distance  from  the  actual  field  of  combat  were  great  mercies  to  him 
at  that  period.  As  it  was,  however,  the  state  of  blockade  that 
existed  for  some  years,  and  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  fate  of 
those  he  loved  in  the  South  were  often  causes  of  depression  and 
misgiving. 

Fortunately  new  and  absorbing  interests  soon  came  with  his  new 
domestic  relations.  On  the  13th  of  Oct.  '61,  a  little  daughter  was 
born  to  him  and  gave  him  a  fresh  and  delightful  duty  as  well  as  a 
solemn  responsibility.  This  gift  of  a  kind  and  Heavenly  Father 
seemed  to  awaken  in  him  a  desire  to  do  something  further  for  the 
cause  and  the  glory  of  the  Giver.  He  had  long  been  in  the  habit 
of  lecturing  or  rather  lay-preaching  in  the  neighborhood.  At  the 
hamlets  and  farm-houses  there  were  often  cases  where  a  regularly 


164  MEMOIR   OF 

ordained  clergyman  could  administer  the  sacraments,  and  exert  an 
influence  that  a  layman  could  not.  His  old  desire  to  enter  the 
ministry  asserted  itself  again,  and  this  time  there  was  no  one  to 
interpose  practical  considerations.  After  a  year  of  special  prepa 
ration,  he  was  ordained  Deacon  at  Cleveland  in  1862,  and  a 
month  later  received  Priest's  orders  of  that  Church  to  which  he 
now  devoted  himself  with  a  new  and  heartfelt  consecration. 

To  those  who  have  heard  Dr.  Wharton  preach,  the  memory  will 
not  be  an  unmixed  pleasure.  His  voice  .was  never  good  and  it 
gave  one  a  feeling  almost  of  regret  to  find  how  often  his  beautiful 
thoughts  and  earnest  appeals  seemed  to  lose  force  by  his  inability 
to  express  them.  Still  to  the  few,  who  would  give  him  their  close 
attention  there  was  always  a  rich  reward.  There  were  few  decora 
tions,  no  repetitions,  no  ignorant  speculations,  but  a  simple  exposi 
tion  of  the  Word  of  God,  that  carried  conviction  to  many  a  heart 
and  disarmed  both  doubt  and  hostility.  Cultivated  men,  who 
would  not  sit  under  an  ordinary  preacher,  no  matter  how  earnest, 
always  were  willing  to  listen  to  him,  the  doubtful  had  their  heart 
questionings  answered,  while  old  believers,  whose  faith  and  hope 
were  long  since  assured,  felt  a  renewed  joy  in  his  clear  and  pow 
erful  enunciations  of  Divine  truth.  Several  of  his  sermons  have 
been  published  ;  one,  notably  beautiful,  is  called  "  A  Root  out  of  a 
dry  ground/' — also  a  small  volume  of  lectures  called  "  The  Silence 
of  Scripture." 

The  loss  of  so  many  students  from  the  Institutions  at  Gambier, 
and  a  desire  for  greater  opportunity  of  preaching  now  led  to  a 
change,  which  will  require  another  chapter  to  narrate. 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  165 


CHAPTER    VII. 

REMOVAL    TO    BROOKLINE— SECOND    JOURNEY  TO    EUROPE LIFE 

AT   NARRAGANSETT   PIER,   WITH    LETTER    FROM    REV.    W.  WIL- 
BERFORCE  NEWTON,  D.D. 

IN  the  year  1863  he  was  called  to  the  parish  of  St.  Paul's, 
Brookline,  Mass.  This  Church  had  been  built,  and  its  members 
for  some  years  edified  by  the  valuable  ministrations  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Stone,  and  it  was  with  some  diffidence  that  the  comparative  neo 
phyte  began  his  labors  there.  He  was,  however,  greatly  encour 
aged  by  the  result.  The  Church,  a  beautiful  building,  though 
small,  became,  under  his  administrations,  crowded.  His  Sunday 
schools  and  Mission  schools  also.  It  was  thought  best  to  divide 
the  Parish,  and  an  active  layman  in  his  Church,  Amos  Lawrence, 
Esq.,  built  for  the  overflow  from  St.  Paul's  the  new  Church  of  Our 
Saviour,  Longwood,  which  is  to-day  a  flourishing  and  well-estab- 
blished  Church.  After  six  years  of  successful  and  delightful 
labor,  chequered,  indeed,  with  some  sad  passages  in  the  deaths  of 
friends  and  parishioners  who  were  dear  to  him,  Dr.  Wharton's 
throat  began  again  to  trouble  him,  and  he  projected  a  second  trip 
to  Europe,  in  the  company  of  his  wife  and  two  little  girls  of  6  and 
7  years.  At  this  point  we  may  perhaps  date  the  revival  of  his 
interest  in  legal  matters.  He  had,  indeed,  from  time  to  time  con 
tinued  to  revise  and  print  new  editions  of  his  Criminal  Law,  as 
they  were  called  for,  and  the  research  connected  with  this  work, 
called  his  attention  to  the  absence  of  good  books  on  several  other 
points.  While  he  was  abroad  in  1870,  he  spent  six  months  in 
Dresden.  Here  in  enforced  leisure,  and  with  the  command  of  good 
authorities  on  the  subject,  he  completed  his  work  on  "  Conflict  of 
Laws,"  which  was  published  on  his  return  to  this  country.  His 
knowledge  of  the  German  language  and  literature  had  ever  been  a 
source  of  great  pleasure  to  him,  and  was  now  turned  to  solid 
account.  About  this  time,  also,  began  a  correspondence  with  various 
learned  men  in  Germany,  Italy,  and  France,  which  resulted  in  his 


16G  MEMOIR   OF 

election  as  a  member  of  the  "  Droit  International,"  a  Society, 
and  a  correspondence  which  continued  to  claim  him  for  the  rest  of 
his  life.  After  his  winter  in  Germany,  he  spent  the  spring  in 
Italy,  and  the  summer  in  Switzerland,  being  in  the  last  named 
period,  sometimes  in  the  direct  path  of  the  French  and  German 
armies,  who  were  contending  for  Alsace. 

Of  this  time,  his  wife  writes  : — 

"  His  stay  in  Dresden  was  a  time  of  peculiar  activity  and  enjoy 
ment.  He  was  never  tired  of  observing  the  peculiarities  of  Ger 
man  character.  Our  home  was  in  the  '  Neue  Stadt/  with  the  bare 
floors  and  rugs,  and  porcelain  stoves,  then  such  a  novelty.  Our 
children  were  almost  old  enough  to  take  care  of  themselves,  but 
relied  for  protection  in  their  walks  on  Frederic,  our  German  courier. 
There,  with  the  Elbe  flowing  peacefully  under  our  windows,  and 
the  German  '  Sprache'  ever  sounding  in  our  ears,  he  composed  and 
wrote  much  that  was  useful  in  later  years.  In  the  afternoon  there 
were  walks  by  the  river,  or  to  the  Alt  Stadt,  where  the  picture 
galleries  enchained  and  fascinated  him.  Sometimes,  in  the  evening, 
we  found  a  rare  treat,  in  the  concerts  at  the  Hotel  de  Saxe,  or  the 
sacred  music  at  the  Frauen  Kirche,  but  more  frequently,  returning 
home,  we  sought,  with  our  little  ones,  the  humbler  but  more  home 
like  strains  in  the  Halle  of  the  Schiller  Strasse.  There,  as  if  we 
were  Germans  ourselves,  we  chose  our  table  and  watched  our  Deutche 
friends,  with  their  wives  and  children,  smoking  their  pipes,  drinking 
beer,  and  consuming  wurst,  and  schinken  at  their  ease,  while  enjoy 
ing  the  music.  He  had  ever  great  admiration  for  the  domestic 
virtues  of  the  German  nation.  It  was  difficult  to  break  up  our 
pleasant  winter  there,  but  on  the  1st  of  March  our  time  was  up, 
and  we  prepared  to  descend  to  Italy.  Crossing  the  Alps  at  Inn- 
spriick,  after  a  short  stay  at  Munich,  we  saw  the  mountains  in  all 
their  winter  beauty.  There  was  no  tunnel  then  to  deprive  us  of 
one  of  the  sublimest  sights  this  earth  can  show — the  white  pin 
nacles  of  an  Alpine  range  glistening  in  the  sun,  like  the  towers  of 
the  New  Jerusalem.  After  a  couple  of  weeks  at  Meran,  rendered 
somewhat  sad  to  us  by  the  sight  of  so  many  sick  and  consumptive 
patients,  who  here  seek,  as  a  last  resource,  for  health  and  strength, 
we  reached  Venice  by  April  1st. 

"  Much  has  been  written  and  sung  of  the  City  by  the  Sea,  but 
it  will  never  lose  in  the  eyes  of  a  new-comer,  a  shock  almost  of 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  167 

surprise  at  its  wonderful  beauty.  We  came  in  just  at  sunset.  The 
palaces  had  turned  in  the  evening  light  into  jewelled  battlements. 
Sea  and  sky  were  one  vast  burnished  mirror,  on  which  the  many- 
tinted  sails  hung  double.  Then  our  way  lay  through  Italy,  in  all 
its  spring-tide  luxuriance.  The  flowering  season  comes  early  there, 
and  the  sights  of  June  are  seen  in  May.  The  roses  and  jessamine 
of  Bellagk),  the  blue  waters  of  Como,  the  distant  peaks  of  moun 
tain  fastnesses,  and  last,  not  least,  the  centipedes  and  tarantulas 
even,  that  come  out  with  the  summer  sunshine — all  contributed  to 
the  entertainment  and  variety  that  the  memory  looks  back  upon. 

"  On  our  way  home  we  passed  through  Switzerland,  and  were 
inconvenienced  by  the  presence  in  Southern  France  of  bands  of 
recruits  on  their  way  to  the  fields  of  action.  It  was  then  1870, 
and  the  fate  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French  was  fast  approaching. 
He  Avas  then  encamped  at  Metz,  and  troops  from  all  parts  of  his 
domain  were  hastening  thither.  We  found  the  trains  filled  with 
these  poor  fellows,  in  their  bine  coats,  who  were  all  to  fight  on 
Alsatian  battlefields,  and  many  of  them  to  sleep  in  death  before 
Chalons  and  Sedan. 

"  At  Berne  we  were  detained  three  weeks  by  the  difficulty  of 
getting  through  to  Paris.  When  we  finally  succeeded  in  reaching 
there,  we  found  the  smallpox  there  before  us,  and  hastening  on,  were 
glad  to  place  the  Channel  between  us  and  the  two  contending  parties. 

"War  to  us  was  not  heroic,  except  in  the  retrospect,  and  the  only 
act  of  heroism  we  connect  with  this,  our  closest  contact  with  it,  was 
the  kindness  of  the  old  French  gentleman  who  gave  up  a  portion 
of  his  reserved  coupe  to  facilitate  our  getting  through  and  admin 
istered  Eau  de  Menthe  from  time  to  time  to  our  various  ailments 
and  fatigues. 

"  Our  voyage  home  had  an  event  to  mark  it,  which  caused  us 
some  alarm,  and  detained  us  for  several  of  those  hours  that  seem 
so  long  on  board  ship.  We  ran  down  a  small  schooner  called  the 
1  Torpedo/  somewhere  near  the  '  Banks  of  Newfoundland/  It  was 
at  night,  and  the  Captain  promptly  stopped  the  steamer  to  ascer 
tain  the  amount  of  injury  done.  There  were  only  seven  men  on 
board  and  these  declared  their  vessel  useless.  This  also  required 
investigation,  so  we  remained  all  night  alongside.  In  the  morning 
it  was  found  that  the  rigging  alone  had  been  touched,  and  that  the 
hurt  could  be  easily  repaired.  For  some  reason,  however,  best 


108  MEMOIR   OF 

known  to  themselves,  the  sailors  refused  to  return  to  their  vessel, 
and  our  Captain  was  obliged  to  send  on  board  the  mate  of  our 
steamer,  with  seven  of  our  sailors  to  bring  the  vessel  into  port. 
This  action  of  the  Captain  may  have  been  dictated  by  policy,  but 
it  seemed  to  us  singularly  humane  at  the  time,  and  the  sailors  from 
the  injured  boat  no  doubt  enjoyed  the  good  cheer  they  received  on 
board  of  our  ship.  I  am  also  happy  to  say,  that,  a  few  days  after 
our  landing,,  we  saw  the  safe  arrival  of  the  (  Torpedo'  announced  in 
the  newspapers." 

Upon  Dr.  Wharton's  return  to  Brookline,  finding  his  throat 
still  troubling  him,  he  resolved  to  resign  his  parish,  and  accept  a 
Professorship  in  the  then  Infant  Seminary  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  Cambridge. 

Of  the  parting  with  his  people,  I  can  only  say,  in  the  words  of 
one  of  his  parishioners,  who  said  it  to  me,  "  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  in  Brookline  will  miss  him." 

His  new  field  of  labor,  however,  was  not  far  off,  and  the  friendly 
relations  already  such  a  trusted  and  sustaining  tie,  continued  to 
exist  long  after  the  move  had  been  made.  The  Trustees  indeed  of 
the  new  Institution  were  the  Vestrymen  of  the  Church  he  was 
forced  to  leave,  and  the  change  of  relations  was  one  that  rather 
cemented  than  weakened  the  tie.  Were  there  space  and  time,  much 
cordial  and  kindly  correspondence  could  here  be  given  to  show 
how  close  and  affectionate  these  relations  were.  It  is  better  per 
haps,  however,  to  hasten  on,  as  the  object  of  these  pages  is  not  to 
show  merely  the  loving  and  lovable  nature  of  the  man  they  record, 
but  to  explain  how  that  God,  who  "  disposes  of  our  ends"  shaped 
out  this  man's  life  to  ends  that  were  far  from  being  his  own  choice, 
and  yet  perhaps  in  their  versatility  and  rich  results  reflect  all  the 
more  credit  on  the  name  and  cause  to  which  he  ever  belonged. 

Of  his  life  in  Cambridge,  if  we  can  say,  with  Luther,  "  to  labor 
is  to  pray,"  it  was  a  most  devout  one.  His  lectures  at  the  Semi 
nary  were  on  Ecclesiastical  Polity  and  Canon  Law,  but  he  made 
them  include  much  beside.  He  accepted  also  a  Chair  in  the  Boston 
University  to  lecture  on  "  Conflict  of  Laws."  His  year  abroad  had 
given  such  an  impetus  to  his  legal  studies,  and  the  libraries  of  Cam 
bridge  so  facilitated  this  impulse,  that  he  continued  to  write  and 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  169 

publish  from  time  to  time  the  various  treatises  that  have  made  his 
name  famous. 

The  "  Negligence"  soon  followed  the  "  Conflict  of  Laws."  Then 
followed  the  "Agency"  and  the  "  Law  of  Evidence."  The  twelve 
years  spent  in  Cambridge  were  indeed  fruitful,  and  the  amount 
accomplished  would  seem  almost  impossible  in  any  other  man.  It 
must,  however,  be  remembered  that  incessant  work  was  the  rule  of 
Dr.  Wharton's  life.  His  very  recreation  was  only  a  new  form  of 
work,  and  he  was  so  thoroughly  master  of  the  themes  upon  which 
he  lectured  and  wrote,  that  they  gave  him  little  trouble.  It  was 
his  delight  to  load  his  carriage  with  a  mass  of  miscellaneous  litera 
ture  each  day,  into  which  he  pored  till  late  at  night.  His  brain 
could  not  rest  except  by  changing  its  subject,  and  his  faculties 
seemed  to  brighten  and  expand  with  the  burdens  laid  upon  them. 
What  to  many  men  seemed  tasks,  to  him  were  play,  and  his  vast 
reading  was  made  to  bear  upon  the  work  he  had  in  hand.  Per 
haps,  to  this  persistent  mental  activity,  the  atmosphere  of  Cam 
bridge  lent  its  sanction.  It  is  a  town  of  savants,  and  the  cold 
winds  of  New  England  drive  its  inmates  within  doors  for  much  of 
the  year.  The  effect  of  much  study  and  the  east  wind  together 
may  be  seen  in  the  galaxy  of  names  of  those  who  adorn  the  annals 
of  American  history  and  literature.  The  fancy  is  turned  by  force 
to  poem  and  to  picture,  to  quiet  thought  and  scientific  research, 
when  there  is  little  in  the  outside  world  to  gratify  and  exhaust  it. 
For  the  same  reason  the  social  life  of  Cambridge  is  a  forced  and 
wintry  growth.  Men  of  genius  are  apt  to  be  absorbed  in  their 
specialties,  and  while  there  is  much  kindliness  and  neighborliness, 
there  is  little  gayety  and  no  dissipation.  The  long  evenings,  that 
in  a  city  can  be  diversified  in  various  ways,  are  here  devoted  to 
reading  and  study.  How  often  does  the  writer  recollect  the  sleigh 
or  wagon  filled  with  books,  and  brought  home  each  evening,  to 
fill  the  hours  till  morning  dawned.  Nothing  was  too  heavy,  and 
nothing  too  light,  to  satisfy  an  appetite,  that  was  insatiable.  For 
tunately,  eyesight  never  failed,  and  he  continued  to  regard  this 
employment  as  the  great  pleasure  of  his  life  until  its  close. 

The  social  tastes,  somewhat  held  in  check  in  Cambridge,  ex 
panded  and  overflowed  in  his  summer  holiday.  He  owned  a  cot 
tage  at  Narragansett  Pier,  and  here  it  was  his  delight,  during  some 
months  of  the  year,  to  turn  himself  into  a  boy  again  and  find 


170  MEMOIR    OF 

absolute  relaxation.  By  this  I  mean  not  rest,  but  renewed  liveliness 
and  hospitality,  and  a  partial  defiance  of  the  conventionality  that 
was  always  irksome  to  him.  His  life  having  been  passed  in  many 
places,  he  had  often  the  pleasure  of  welcoming  old  acquaintances 
from  other  parts  of  the  country,  and  they  found  themselves  wel 
comed  with  a  warmth  and  cordiality  which  made  them  feel  at 
home,  and  in  many  cases  drew  them  to  the  Pier,  as  their  chosen 
summer  resort,  for  years.  The  following  letter  will  confirm  and 
illustrate  still  further  the  extreme  personal  popularity  he  at  that 
time  enjoyed  : — 

REMEMBRANCES    OF   REV.   DR.  WHARTON— DAYS    AT 
NARRAGANSETT  PIER. 

BY    WILLIAM    WILBERFOKCE    NEWTON. 

My  earliest  recollection  of  Dr.  Francis  Wharton  was  as  a  boy  at 
my  father's  house  in  Philadelphia,  when  the  Doctor  was  Professor 
at  Kenyon  College. 

He  was  then  in  the  habit  of  coming  back  to  Philadelphia  every 
year,  and  used  to  return  to  Ohio  laden  down  with  enthusiastic 
young  men  whom  he  had  influenced  to  study  at  Kenyon  College. 
He  seemed,  in  those  days,  to  play  the  part  of  the  famous  bird- 
catcher  of  Mozart's  wonderful  composition,  and  he  hacT  but  to  play 
upon  his  magic  flute,  and  the  students  were  quickly  around  him. 
My  old  friend,  Rev.  William  Barr,  was  one  of  these,  and  I  myself, 
as  a  boy  just  getting  ready  for  college,  was  envious  of  the  lot  of 
those  who  could  go  to  Ohio  to  study  with  this  genial  and  sympa 
thetic  teacher. 

The  next  remembrance  of  the  Doctor  comes  in  the  recollection 
of  his  life  as  a  parish  minister  at  St.  Paul's,  Brookline.  I  remem 
ber  distinctly  going  out  to  his  residence  one  Saturday  evening, 
when  he  lived  in  Longwood,  and  I  was  on  a  visit  to  Boston.  It 
was  a  very  snowy  night,  in  the  early  spring  or  winter  of  the  year 
1869,  and  the  Doctor  asked  me  to  spend  the  night  and  go  to  church 
with  him  the  next  day.  He  was  busy  in  the  evening  in  writing  a 
funeral  sermon  about  Mrs.  Kent  Stone,  who  had  just  died,  and  at 
the  same  time  he  was  correcting  a  large  batch  of  proof  in  one  of 
his  law  articles.  Added  to  this,  he  was  reading  at  intervals  from 
some  law  book,  in  the  conventional  leather  binding  of  the  lawyer's 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  171 

office,   and   he  asked  me  to  hunt  up  for  him  Tennyson's  dirge, 
beginning — 

"  Now  is  done  thy  long  day's  work," 

which  he  wanted  for  the  funeral  discourse  the  next  day. 

This  was  the  first  time  I  ever  witnessed  his  remarkable  habit  of 
doing  two^  or  three  things  at  the  same  time,  and  it  surprised  me 
greatly  as  I  looked  on  in  youthful  wonder. 

The  next  day  I  read  service  for  him  at  St.  Paul's  Church — little 
dreaming  that  in  a  year's  time  I  was  to  be  his  successor  there. 
On  this  Sunday  the  Doctor  preached  the  funeral  sermon  about 
Mrs.  Kent  Stone,  which  he  had  written  the  night  before. 

Some  years  later  I  went  down  to  Narragansett  Pier,  R.  I., 
to  look  for  a  cottage  for  my  family,  after  a  long  and  distressing 
siege  of  scarlet  fever  during  the  first  winter  I  spent  in  Boston  as 
rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church.  The  Doctor  was  then  Professor  in 
the  Theological  Divinity  School  at  Cambridge,  and  very  fre 
quently,  in  the  goodness  of  his  heart,  walked  in  from  Cambridge 
to  help  me  with  the  service  on  Sunday. 

Frequently  he  would  dine  with  us,  and  on  one  occasion  recom 
mended  Narragansett  Pier  as  a  desirable  summer  resort.  The  end 
of  the  visit  was  that  I  became  the  Doctor's  tenant  'for  three  years 
in  his  little  "  Bonnet  Box  Cottage,"  as  we  termed  it,  until  our  own 
cottage  on  the  point  of  rocks  known  as  "  Lion's  Head"  was  built. 

It  was  during  these  years  at  Narragansett  Pier  that  the  many- 
sided  personality  of  Dr.  Wharton  manifested  itself.  He  was  a 
lawyer  Avriting  books,  a  clergyman  preaching  sermons,  a  trustee 
of  St.  Peter's  Church  at  Narragansett  Pier,  a  wonderful  shopper 
and  provider  for  his  family  and  friends,  a  kind  and  indulgent 
landlord,  a  charming  and  courteous  host,  and  in  many  ways  the 
most  striking  personality  of  all  that  region. 

The  tea  parties  and  lawn  parties  where  boarders  and  cottagers 
mingled  ;  the  garden  parties  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church  and  the 
Rectory,  and  the  many  miscellaneous  gatherings  of  friends  in  his 
study,  which  was  always  fragrant  with  his  graciousness  and  kind 
ness  of  heart,  are  events  which  never  can  be  forgotten  by  those 
who  were  made  happy  by  his  thought  and  care.  Together  we 
welcomed  to  Narragansett  on  one  or  two  occasions  the  Clericus 
Club  of  Boston  ministers,  dividing  the  guests  between  us;  while 


172  MEMOIR    OF 

all  the  time  he  entered  into  the  picnic  pleasures  of  the  place  with 
all  the  holiday  spirit  of  a  boy  in  vacation  time. 

The  freedom  and  repose  of  this  life  at  Narragansett  Pier  were 
most  welcome  to  him.  Whether  it  was  his  cheery  cry  for  the 
omnipresent  "  Pat"  or  the  faithful  "  Billy,"  the  horse ;  or  his  bare 
headed  call  on  his  tenants,  at  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  to  know 
whether  they  wanted  to  play  "  Nations ;"  or  his  frequent  use  of 
the  provincial  terminology  of  the  place  when  he  addressed  his 
clerical  friends  as  "  Elder ;"  or  his  delightful  and  piquant  descrip 
tion  of  the  various  lapses  and  escapades  of  the  two  Skye  terriers, 
who  were  known  as  "  Gyppie  and  Timmie  Wharton  ;"  or  his  fre 
quent  and  unconventional  call,  as  he  used  to  lean  upon  the  fence 
with  his  hand  to  his  head  and  talked  with  his  lady  friends,  bring 
ing  them  some  flower  or  fern  or  sharing  some  delicacy  of  which  he 
had  become  the  possessor. 

The  memory  of  the  soul  of  the  man  clings  to  the  place  like  the 
abiding  of  some  happy  dream  which  cannot  be  forgotten.  He  was 
in  very  truth  the  father  of  our  social  life  at  Narragansett  Pier. 
Many  a  time  I  have  known  him  to  ask  me  to  entertain  some  guests 
until  he  was  through  with  a  difficult  passage  of  proof  reading,  so 
that  it  might  be  in  time  for  a  certain  mail,  and  then  he  would 
appear  and  pour  forth  a  flood  of  the  most  brilliant  conversation, 
which  beggars  description  and  can  best  be  remembered  by  the 
happy  phrase  coined  by  a  friend  and  known  as  "  Whartoniana." 
His  vocabulary  was  simply  boundless,  and  his  droll  manner  of 
using  obsolete,  piquant,  and  unexpected  adjectives  whereby  to  de 
scribe  a  noun-like  conception  of  persons,  places,  and  things,  was  at 
times  strangely  original  and  irresistible.  I  remember  him  speak 
ing  of  a  certain  ecclesiastical  dignitary,  upon  one  occasion,  as 
"frisking  his  feathers  like  a  fan  tail  pigeon  in  a  box  at  a  county 
fair,  where  there  wasn't  room  enough  to  turn  around,"  and  de 
scribing  a  change  made  in  a  certain  city  church  as  follows  : — 

"  The  dear  old  Quaker  lady  has  had  her  cap  and  ruffs  taken 
away  from  her,  and  is  now  like  a  stuffed  lady  in  the  shop  win 
dows." 

Sydney  Smith  never  said  brighter  things  than  Dr.  Wharton  was 
capable  of  saying.  But  he  did  not  seem  to  say  them ;  he  simply 
emitted  them,  as  the  fire-fly  emits  its  glow  in  the  meadow  land  in 
the  night  time. 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  173 

Never  shall  I  forget  a  certain  Metaphysical  dinner  at  -Narra- 
gansett  at  which  the  elder  R.  G.  Hazard,  President  Porter,  Dr. 
Grier  and  others  were  present.  "  Doctor/7  I  said,  as  we  were  riding 
to  the  dinner,  "  if  you  are  not  brilliant  to-day,  at  this  dinner,  I  shall 
surely  tell  the  story  of  the  English  showman,  so  I  give  you  fair 
warning.  If  I  lead  the  conversation  up  to  the  subject  of  West 
minster  Abbey,  that  is  the  sign  that  the  English  showman  is  at 
the  door." 

Two  or  three  times  at  the  dinner  I  managed  to  say  something 
about  Westminster  Abbey  only  to  see  the  Doctor's  face  flush,  as 
he  bounded  off  to  some  dazzling  topic. 

Whatever  was  of  interest  to  the  social  or  religious  life  of  Narra- 
gansett  Pier  found  a  warm  place  in  Dr.  W  barton's  heart.  He 
founded  and  managed  "  The  Pier  Table"  or  Magazine  Club  for  the 
cottages  upon  the  Cliffs,  and  for  many  summers  entertained  the 
different  clergymen  who  came  to  preach  at  the  Little  St.  Peter's 
Church  by  the  Sea. 

Busy  as  he  was  in  his  multiform  duties  as  correspondent,  author, 
preacher,  and  editor,  he  was  ever  ready  for  the  social  requirements 
of  this  busy  place  and  welcomed  the  coming,  as  well  as  sped  the 
parting  guest  at  the  many  hotels  and  cottages  which  have  made  a 
City  by  the  Sea  out  of  what  was  formerly  only  a  provincial  seaside 
resort. 

He  had  always  about  him  the  methods  of  the  progressive  busi 
ness  man  and  was  ever  ready  to  lay  out  plans  for  the  enlargement 
of  the  Church,  or  the  building  of  the  Rectory,  or  the  developing 
life  and  growth  of  the  Pier. 

Many  a  time  he  would  send  for  his  resident  friends  to  enjoy  the 
companionship  of  his  guests — and  great  pleasure  has  been  given  by 
the  friendships  thus  formed — whose  memory  lingers  as  a  delight 
in  the  mind  which  time  and  change  are  powerless  to  efface. 

I  think  these  Narragansett  days  produced  a  marked  change  in 
Dr.  Wharton's  outlook  upon  life.  The  former  days  of  ecclesiastical 
and  political  contention  seem  to  have  become  tempered  to  a  gentle 
ness  of  manner  and  breadth  of  view  which  admitted  that  there 
might  be  after  all  much  to  be  said  upon  the  other  side. 

Nature  is  always  calming  and  quieting  to  the  child  of  nature 
and  teaches  him  many  lessons  not  to  be  learned  elsewhere.  Dr. 


174  MEMOIR   OF 

Whartou  learned  at  Narragansett  Pier — I  think — that  lesson  which 
all  God's  workers  must  learn  somewhere, — that  his  methods  are 
after  all  very  wide  and  far  reaching,  and  are  not  necessarily  joined 
to  our  human  haste  and  zeal. 

There  was  very  much  of  the  Friend  in  Dr.  Wharton's  character, 
and  his  Quaker  ancestry  showed  itself  most  markedly  in  the  quiet 
days  at  the  Pier.  Some  of  his  most  valuable  theological  treatises 
were  the  outcome  of  his  legal  studies.  Such  as  his  paper  upon 
"Causation"  and  " Petition  in  the  light  of  Prayer'7  and  other 
marked  productions  were  wrought  out  in  the  quiet  working  hours 
of  the  familiar  study  at  Flat  Rock  Cottage. 

His  papers  at  the  clerical  clubs  in  Boston  were  always  listened 
to  with  the  deepest  attention,  and  his  friendship  was  a  prize  coveted 
alike  by  the  elder  and  younger  clergy  and  by  that  distinguished 
group  of  laymen  who  were  the  founders  of  the  Cambridge  Divinity 
School,  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  the  late  Jas.  S.  Amory,  Amos 
Lawrence  and  others. 

His  modesty,  simplicity,  and  uniform  courtesy  always  made  him 
appear  in  the  light  of  the  chivalric  gentleman  whose  guiding  prin 
ciple  in  life  was  the  commanding  motto,  "  Noblesse  Oblige." 

Dr.  Wharton's  little  book,  "  The  Silence  of  Scripture,"  made  at 
the  time  of  its  publication  a  marked  effect  and  was  I  believe  the 
result  of  his  legal  investigations  in  the  matter  of  Evidence  and  the 
withholding  of  testimony.  His  legal  books  while  they  were 
valuable  in  themselves  and  gave  to  their  author  a  most  envious 
and  marked  foreign  reputation — were  none  the  less  valuable  in 
their  secondary  use,  the  way  in  which  they  oifered  to  his  fresh 
and  versatile  mind  new  fields  of  illustration  for  the  exercise  of 
his  theological  investigations. 

Weary  and  tired  as  he  often  was  after  a  winter's  work  at  author's 
desk  and  professor's  chair,  and  that  tiredness  which  comes  by  use 
of  pen  and  use  of  voice,  Narragansett  Pier  was  always  welcomed 
by  him  as  the  great  freshener  of  his  wearied  brain,  and  he  loved 
to  sing  the  praises  of  the  place  which  restored  him  to  health  and 
vigor  of  life  and  thought. 

Ah !  dear  loving — kind-hearted  friend — Host  and  Helper  of 
other  days — thou  hast  left  us  and  the  place  seems  desolate  without 
thee  !  The  wind  speaks  to  us  of  thee  as  it  comes  over  the  Point 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  175 

Judith  Meadows :  The  Surf  speaks  to  us  of  thee  as  its  solemn 
monotone  is  heard  by  Flat  Rock  and  Indian  Rock  and  Lion's 
Head,  and  somehow  in  wind  and  surf  and  in  every  voice  of  nature 
we  feel  that  thou  art  still  here  in  the  spot  which  thou  loved'st  so 
well. 


176  MEMOIR   OF 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

LIFE   OF    DR.  WHARTON,  AT   CAMBRIDGE,  BY   REV.  A.  V.  G. 
ALLEN,  D.D. 

IN  1871  Dr.  Wharton  took  up  his  residence  in  Cambridge.  At 
the  time  of  his  removal,  this  ancient  collegiate  town  still  retained 
much  of  its  earlier  simplicity ;  it  was  still  known  as  the  village  of 
Old  Cambridge,  its  society  was  marked  by  a  homogeneousness  of 
refinement  and  aristocracy  and  literary  distinction.  To  such  a 
community  his  coming  was  an  event  of  social  importance.  To 
one  like  himself  carrying  a  wholly  different  line  of  antecedents,  it 
was  also  an  event  of  peculiar  interest  when  he  found  himself  trans 
planted  to  the  centre  of  Puritan  learning  and  tradition,  the  battle 
ground  of  Puritan  theological  conflicts,  the  later  home  of  its  highest 
literary  achievements.  When  it  had  been  proposed  to  plant  the 
Episcopal  Theological  School  in  Cambridge,  he  had  warmly 
espoused  the  suggestion,  in  spite  of  the  distrust  which  the  sugges 
tion  encountered  in  the  minds  of  others.  To  the  Theological 
School  still  struggling  in  the  weakness  of  its  infancy,  his  presence 
as  a  resident  professor  was  an  element  of  strength  and  confidence. 

Dr.  Wharton  had  been  connected  with  the  School  from  its  origin. 
Mr.  Benjamin  T.  Reed,  its  founder,  had  intrusted  to  him  the  task 
of  drawing  up  its  constitution  as  well  as  the  nomination  of  its  first 
professors.  A  confidence  so  generous  and  unlimited  was  reAvarded 
by  the  devotion  with  which  Dr.  Wharton  threw  himself  into  the 
plans  of  the  founder.  His  legal  attainments,  his  knowledge  of  the 
working  of  similar  institutions,  his  insight  into  the  ecclesiastical  con 
ditions  of  the  hour  enabled  him  to  furnish'  a  constitution,  answering 
to  the  idea  which  Mr.  Reed  had  conceived.  The  peculiarity  of 
this  constitution  consists  in  giving  to  a  board  of  lay  trustees  the 
supreme  control.  To  them  is  intrusted  not  only  the  management 
of  finances  but  the  appointment  of  teachers.  It  is  to  the  Trustees 
that  the  School  makes  its  report  and  to  whom  its  faculty  as  such 
are  amenable.  It  was  Dr.  Wharton' s  conviction  that  the  School, 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTOX.  177 

separated  from  any  organic  relation  to  the  diocese  in  which  it  was 
located,  would  thus  escape  the  gusts  and  flurries  of  partisan  feeling 
to  which  ecclesiastical  conventions  are  liable  and  be  enabled  to 
maintain  a  uniform  career  consistent  with  the  purpose  of  its 
founder. 

In  connecting  himself  with  the  School  as  a  resident  professor, 
Dr.  Wharton  was  again  rendering  his  services  almost  gratuitously 
to  the  cause  which  lay  close  to  his  heart.  His  disinterested  gener 
osity  was  the  only  limit  to  his  devotion.  From  the  time  when  he 
became  solely  identified  with  it,  the  School  began  to  be  known  more 
widely,  as  he  gave  to  it  his  reputation,  his  literary  activity,  and  his 
wide  hospitality.  While  he  appreciated  and  valued  the  attractions 
of  the  parish  life  of  a  clergyman,  yet  the  work  of  a  teacher  had 
always  been  to  him  congenial.  And  of  all  the  departments  of  teach 
ing,  it  was  the  peculiar  work  of  the  theological  school  for  which  he 
felt  the  strongest  yearning.  Even  while  at  Gambler,  connected  with 
the  college,  the  religious  aspects  of  truth  were  always  prominent  in 
his  mind.  His  book  on  Theism  and  Skepticism  shows  how  he 
delighted  in  tracing  the  affinities  between  theology  and  the  adjacent 
departments  of  literature  and  law,  or  of  more  recondite  psychological 
speculation.  Could  he  have  chosen,  he  would  have  preferred  to 
teach  theology  as  the  study  in  which  .he  felt  the  deepest  interest. 
But  with  his  characteristic  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  he  preferred  that 
o.thers  should  choose  their  special  fields,  content  for  himself  to  take 
the  work  which  fell  to  him  when  other  chairs  had  been  filled,  or 
for  which  provision  could  in  no  other  way  be  made. 

His  duties  in  Cambridge  consisted  in  preaching  in  his  turn  in 
the  chapel  of  the  School  and  in  lecturing  on  Liturgies,  Church 
Polity,  and  Canon  Law.  For  a  few  years  also  he  gave  instruction 
in  Homiletics,  Pastoral  Care,  and  Apologetics.  While  the  range 
was  a  wide  one  which  these  several  branches  of  study  represented, 
it  was  not  too  wide  for  a  mind  like  his,  characterized  by  its  capa 
ciousness  and  many-sidedness  together  with  a  vast  capacity  for 
work.  Nor  was  there  any  one  of  these  departments  for  which  he 
had  not  been  preparing  himself  by  some  special  study  or  experi 
ence.  He  took  the  same  delight  in  teaching  students  the  relations 
between  a  pastor  and  his  people,  which  he  had  also  felt  when  as  a 
parish  minister  in  Brookline  he  had  faithfully  gone  from  house  to 
house,  advising,  suggesting,  consoling  with  his  gracious  and  delicate 
12 


178  MEMOIR   OF 

sympathy.  As  a  sermonizer  he  had  been  indefatigable,  while  at 
Brookline,  finding  his  highest  pleasure  in  what  to  many  is  a  burden. 
He  was  always  revolving  plans  of  sermons  in  his  mind,  quick  to 
see  the  suggestiveuess  of  texts,  writing  his  sermons  so  long  in 
advance  that  he  had  at  one  time  accumulated  more  than  fifty 
which  he  had  not  preached.  If  the  range  of  his  preaching  was 
somewhat  beyond  the  popular  mind,  there  was  always  something 
to  arrest  the  more  thoughtful,  which  might  become  a  fruitful  sub 
ject  for  meditation.  As  he  excelled  in  the  reading  of  men  and  the 
knowledge  of  character,  so  as  a  critic  of  sermons  or  the  art  of 
their  composition,  he  never  failed  to  detect  excellence,  even  in 
crude  and  undeveloped  forms.  He  loved  to  recognize  hidden 
merits,  to  find  something  to  commend,  where  others  were  inclined 
to  censure. 

As  a  lawyer,  interested  in  the  literature  of  law,  it  might  have 
been  supposed  that  he  would  find  a  special  interest  in  the  study 
of  Canon  Law.  With  Roman  law  he  was  familiar,  noting  with 
deep  interest  the  influence  exerted  upon  it  by  Christian  ideas  and 
institutions.  But  though  he  lectured  upon  Canon  Law,  he  was 
not  attracted  by  it  nor  did  he  care  to  make  it  the  subject  of  origi 
nal  research.  His  conception  of  Christianity  did  not  emphasize 
its  legal  aspects.  While  he  did  not  underrate  the  sacredness  and 
importance  of  law  as  connected  with  the  well  being  of  the  State 
or  Society,  he  may  have  felt  that  in  the  Church  lay  the  sphere  of 
that  higher  freedom,  where  law  passes  out  into  the  glad  perform 
ance  of  duty  under  the  influence  of  religious  motive.  Canon  Law 
may  even  have  been  obnoxious  to  him,  as  for  the  greater  part  in 
its  history  a  restriction  of  Christian  liberty,  concerning  itself  mainly 
with  the  interests  of  the  hierarchy  and  not  of  the  people,  building 
upon  foundations  alien  to  the  spirit  and  the  teachings  of  Christ.  In 
Church  Polity  he  followed  Hooker  whose  conception  of  law  was 
akin  to  his  own.  He  held  firmly  to  the  principle  that  order  in  the 
church  was  divine,  while  unembarrassed  by  notions  of  the  divine 
right  of  Episcopacy  or  of  any  form  of  church  government. 

The  department  of  his  work,  in  which  he  most  delighted,  was 
what  is  known  in  theological  circles  by  the  unfortunate  name  01 
Apologetics.  But  he  gave  it  a  larger  scope  than  it  is  sometimes 
construed  as  including.  It  stood  to  him  for  more  than  a  mere 
negative  reply  to  objections  or  to  assaults  upon  the  faith.  It 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHAKTON.  179 

meant  rather  the  positive  affirmation  of  the  Christian  idea  beneath 
conflicting  attitudes  of  opinion,  or  its  confirmation  by  those  aspects 
of  Christian  history  or  church  life  whose  variance  or  discordance 
have  seemed  to  so  many  to  indicate  weakness  or  disintegration. 
An  article  in  the  l  Bibliotheca  Sacra'  for  July,  1880,  entitled  Church 
Parties  as  Apologists,  may  be  taken  as  an  illustration  of  his  method. 
A  fuller  allusion  to  this  article  will  be  made  hereafter. 

It  fell  to  Dr.  Wharton  in  teaching  liturgies,  to  comment  upon 
the  rubrics  of  the  Prayer  Book  at  a  time  when  the  mind  of  the 
Church  was  distracted  by  internal  differences  and  dissensions. 
This  part  of  his  duty  was  not  the  most  congenial  to  him.  Strong 
as  were  his  convictions  regarding  the  general  purport  and  spirit 
of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  yet  no  one  knew  better  than  he 
how  powerless  were  rubrics  to  enforce  its  purpose.  He  realized  as 
a  lawyer  the  limited  capacity  of  human  language  to  express  truth 
in  such  a  way  that  it  should  receive  but  one  interpretation.  Words 
were  changing  their  meaning  with  successive  generations.  He  was 
accustomed  to  allude  in  illustration  of  this  fact  to  the  statute  of 
frauds,  "  which  was  adopted  in  England  for  the  purpose  of  pre 
venting  frauds  and  perjuries  consequent  upon  purely  oral  proofs 
of  contracts  and  wills,  and  which  provided  that  contracts  and  wills 
should  with  certain  exceptions  be  in  writing  and  be  proved  in  a 
particular  way  ;  but  there  is  no  word  in  the  statute  of  frauds  which 
has  not  been  the  subject  of  innumerable  suits  and  of  the  most  in 
tricate  distinctions  and  subdistinctions."  For  these  reasons  he  was 
not  what  is  called  a  strict  rubrician  nor  did  he  believe  that  it  was 
possible  for  any  one  to  adhere  to  the  letter  of  every  rubric.  He 
was  inclined  to  fall  back  upon  the  larger  rubric  of  common  sense 
in  interpreting  the  Prayer  Book,  which  would  keep  the  Church 
true  in  the  main  to  its  standards,  while  preventing  the  scrupulosity 
which  insisted  on  fulfilling  obsolete  or  inconvenient  injunctions, 
no  longer  necessary  to  the  Church's  welfare. 

The  charm  which  he  threw  about  the  topics  he  discussed,  in  the 
class-room  or  elsewhere,  is  more  easily  remembered  than  described. 
A  certain  versatility  of  mind,  joined  to  his  apt  and  capacious  mem 
ory  ;  the  freshness  and  refinement  of  his  illustrations ;  the  wide  re 
lations  in  which  he  viewed  commonplace  subjects — these  things  are 
not  forgotten  when  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  illustrate  them  in  de 
tail.  The  supreme  quality  which  showed  itself  in  all  his  work  was 


178  MEMOIR   OF 

sympathy.  As  a  serrnouizer  he  had  been  indefatigable,  while  at 
Brookline,  finding  his  highest  pleasure  in  what  to  many  is  a  burden. 
He  was  always  revolving  plans  of  sermons  in  his  mind,  quick  to 
see  the  suggestiveness  of  texts,  writing  his  sermons  so  long  in 
advance  that  he  had  at  one  time  accumulated  more  than  fifty 
which  he  had  not  preached.  If  the  range  of  his  preaching  was 
somewhat  beyond  the  popular  mind,  there  was  always  something 
to  arrest  the  more  thoughtful,  which  might  become  a  fruitful  sub 
ject  for  meditation.  As  he  excelled  in  the  reading  of  men  and  the 
knowledge  of  character,  so  as  a  critic  of  sermons  or  the  art  of 
their  composition,  he  never  failed  to  detect  excellence,  even  in 
crude  and  undeveloped  forms.  He  loved  to  recognize  hidden 
merits,  to  find  something  to  commend,  where  others  were  inclined 
to  censure. 

As  a  lawyer,  interested  in  the  literature  of  law,  it  might  have 
been  supposed  that  he  would  find  a  special  interest  in  the  study 
of  Canon  Law.  With  Roman  law  he  was  familiar,  noting  with 
deep  interest  the  influence  exerted  upon  it  by  Christian  ideas  and 
institutions.  But  though  he  lectured  upon  Canon  Law,  he  was 
not  attracted  by  it  nor  did  he  care  to  make  it  the  subject  of  origi 
nal  research.  His  conception  of  Christianity  did  not  emphasize 
its  legal  aspects.  While  he  did  not  underrate  the  sacredness  and 
importance  of  law  as  connected  with  the  well  being  of  the  State 
or  Society,  he  may  have  felt  that  in  the  Church  lay  the  sphere  of 
that  higher  freedom,  where  law  passes  out  into  the  glad  perform 
ance  of  duty  under  the  influence  of  religious  motive.  Canon  Law 
may  even  have  been  obnoxious  to  him,  as  for  the  greater  part  in 
its  history  a  restriction  of  Christian  liberty,  concerning  itself  mainly 
with  the  interests  of  the  hierarchy  and  not  of  the  people,  building 
upon  foundations  alien  to  the  spirit  and  the  teachings  of  Christ.  In 
Church  Polity  he  followed  Hooker  whose  conception  of  law  was 
akin  to  his  own.  He  held  firmly  to  the  principle  that  order  in  the 
church  was  divine,  while  unembarrassed  by  notions  of  the  divine 
right  of  Episcopacy  or  of  any  form  of  church  government. 

The  department  of  his  work,  in  which  he  most  delighted,  was 
what  is  known  in  theological  circles  by  the  unfortunate  name  01 
Apologetics.  But  he  gave  it  a  larger  scope  than  it  is  sometimes 
construed  as  including.  It  stood  to  him  for  more  than  a  mere 
negative  reply  to  objections  or  to  assaults  upon  the  faith.  It 


DR.    FKANCIS   WHARTON.  179 

meant  rather  the  positive  affirmation  of  the  Christian  idea  beneath 
conflicting  attitudes  of  opinion,  or  its  confirmation  by  those  aspects 
of  Christian  history  or  church  life  whose  variance  or  discordance 
have  seemed  to  so  many  to  indicate  weakness  or  disintegration. 
An  article  in  the  '  Bibliotheca  Sacra'  for  July,  1880,  entitled  Church 
Parties  as  Apologists,  may  be  taken  as  an  illustration  of  his  method. 
A  fuller  allusion  to  this  article  will  be  made  hereafter. 

It  fell  to  Dr.  Wharton  in  teaching  liturgies,  to  comment  upon 
the  rubrics  of  the  Prayer  Book  at  a  time  when  the  mind  of  the 
Church  was  distracted  by  internal  differences  and  dissensions. 
This  part  of  his  duty  was  not  the  most  congenial  to  him.  Strong 
as  were  his  convictions  regarding  the  general  purport  and  spirit 
of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  yet  no  one  knew  better  than  he 
how  powerless  were  rubrics  to  enforce  its  purpose.  He  realized  as 
a  lawyer  the  limited  capacity  of  human  language  to  express  truth 
in  such  a  way  that  it  should  receive  but  one  interpretation.  Words 
were  changing  their  meaning  with  successive  generations.  He  was 
accustomed  to  allude  in  illustration  of  this  fact  to  the  statute  of 
frauds,  "  which  was  adopted  in  England  for  the  purpose  of  pre 
venting  frauds  and  perjuries  consequent  upon  purely  oral  proofs 
of  contracts  and  wills,  and  which  provided  that  contracts  and  wills 
should  with  certain  exceptions  be  in  writing  and  be  proved  in  a 
particular  way  ;  but  there  is  no  word  in  the  statute  of  frauds  which 
has  not  been  the  subject  of  innumerable  suits  and  of  the  most  in 
tricate  distinctions  and  subdistinctions."  For  these  reasons  he  was 
not  what  is  called  a  strict  rubrician  nor  did  he  believe  that  it  was 
possible  for  any  one  to  adhere  to  the  letter  of  every  rubric.  He 
was  inclined  to  fall  back  upon  the  larger  rubric  of  common  sense 
in  interpreting  the  Prayer  Book,  which  would  keep  the  Church 
true  in  the  main  to  its  standards,  while  preventing  the  scrupulosity 
which  insisted  on  fulfilling  obsolete  or  inconvenient  injunctions, 
no  longer  necessary  to  the  Church's  welfare. 

The  charm  which  he  threw  about  the  topics  he  discussed,  in  the 
class-room  or  elsewhere,  is  more  easily  remembered  than  described. 
A  certain  versatility  of  mind,  joined  to  his  apt  and  capacious  mem 
ory  ;  the  freshness  and  refinement  of  his  illustrations ;  the  wide  re 
lations  in  which  he  viewed  commonplace  subjects — these  things  are 
not  forgotten  when  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  illustrate  them  in  de 
tail.  The  supreme  quality  which  showed  itself  in  all  his  work  was 


180  MEMOIR   OF 

a  large  humanity — a  sense  of  the  human  element  which  lay  be 
neath  theological  issues  or  practical  differences  of  opinion.  In  this 
respect  he  differed  from  many  who  are  identified  with  ecclesiastical 
affairs.  His  large  knowledge  of  the  world  never  allowed  him  to 
be  entirely  merged  with  his  clerical  brethren  in  any  question  where 
passing  fashion  or  prejudice  or  party  feeling  were  concerned.  He 
had  somewhat  of  the' manner  of  one  who  is  looking  at  things  from 
without,  or,  rather,  who  while  he  is  within  never  forgets  that  there 
is  a  point  of  view  from  without.  He  was  sometimes  driven  to 
accommodate  himself  to  clerical  or  ecclesiastical  standards  when 
the  free  and  independent  course  of  his  mind  would  have  led  him 
to  a  different  view. 

The  element  of  humanism  in  his  composition  which  impelled 
him  to  form  literary  judgments  of  theological  issues  kept  him 
alive  also  to  the  essential  humor  which  underlies  the  situations 
of  life.  While  his  attitude  was  always  a  serious  one,  his  sympa 
thetic  vision,  detecting  at  a  glance  the  pathos  in  every  phase  of 
human  experience,  yet  he  had  also,  to  more  than  an  ordinary 
degree,  that  counter-balancing  quality  which  prevented  him  from 
being  overcome  with  the  sadness  which  marks  the  course  of  his 
tory  or  is  involved  in  every  human  career.  The  gift  of  humor, 
thus  manifested,  may  be  regarded  as  part  of  the  divine  endowment 
of  the  human  constitution — a  most  important  factor  in  human  de 
velopment,  It  may  be  abused,  as  may  all  other  gifts  and  graces ; 
but  as  a  safeguard  against  absurdities ;  as  a  corrective  of  the  "  idols 
of  the  tribe ;"  as  a  means  of  putting  men  in  true  relations  with 
life,  it  serves  a  valuable  purpose  in  the  religious  world,  even 
though  it  be  misunderstood  by  those  engaged  in  secular  occupa 
tions.  Humor  may  be  illustrated  when  it  is  a  difficult  thing  to 
define,  for  its  source  is  lost  amidst  the  mysteries  of  our  being. 
With  Dr.  Wharton  it  was  intimately  allied  with  a  deep  tenderness 
of  nature,  serving  somewhat  as  a  shield  to  his  quick  susceptibility 
to  every  form  of  human  failure  and  sorrow.  It  was  a  kindly 
quality,  lending  a  charm  to  social  intercourse  while  injuring  no 
one,  and  not  always  appreciated  except  by  those  who  knew  him 
well.  He  allowed  it  free  play  upon  his  own  experience,  as  when 
he  showed  himself  conscious  of  the  incongruity  involved  in  his  own 
career — the  transition  from  the  legal  profession,  in  whose  service 
he  had  spent  so  many  years,  to  the  ranks  of  the  clerical  order. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHABTON.  181 

Deep  and  searching  as  was  the  spiritual  revolution  which  drove 
him  to  abandon  the  law  with  its  honors  and  emoluments,  and  the 
successes  and  attractions  of  social  life  for  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
yet  something  of  the  outlook  of  the  man  of  the  world  and  fashion 
he  still  retained  in  his  new  calling  as  he  strove  to  adapt  himself  to 
the  peculiar  external  ways,  the  shibboleths,  the  conventionalities 
of  clerical  life.  These  things  amused  him,  while  also  he  strove  to 
take  them  seriously.  Occasional  flashes  of  humor  revealed  a  kindly 
recognition  of  weaknesses  which  he  could  not  help  observing.  Like 
Sydney  Smith,  he  always  carried  the  consciousness  of  another  world 
of  interests  and  pursuits  to  which  the  clerical  mind  is,  for  the  most 
part,  a  stranger. 

The  gift  of  conversation,  sometimes  referred  to  as  one  of  the 
lost  arts,  was  possessed  by  Dr.  Wharton  in  a  remarkable  degree, 
making  him  a  most  attractive  and  delightful  feature  of  the  various 
clerical  associations  to  which  he  belonged.  It  was  more  particu 
larly  in  the  Ministers'  Club  of  which  he  became  a  member  soon 
after  coming  to  Cambridge  that  he  shone  with  a  lustre  which  was 
all  his  own.  This  unique  association  was  composed  of  members 
of  all  denominations,  including  in  its  ranks  the  most  distinguished 
clergy  in  Boston  and  its  vicinity, — Unitarian,  Episcopal,  Congre 
gational,  Baptist,  Universalist,  and  Methodist.  Dr.  Wharton's 
regular  attendance  showed  his  high  appreciation  of  its  value,  each 
monthly  meeting  being'  to  him  a  source  of  profit  and  delight.  But, 
in  turn,  he  was  himself  a  'large  part  of  the  life  of  the  Club,  and 
his  contributions  of  learning  and  of  literary  criticism,  illuminated 
writh  wit  and  humor,  always  formed  a  memorable  part  of  every 
session.  In  this  social  communion  with  men  whom  he  respected 
for  their  high  position,  their  intellectual  power  and  large  attain 
ments,  he  was  inclined  to  give  himself  the  rein,  to  indulge  freely 
his  gift  of  humorous  satire  or  humanistic  criticism  with  no  danger 
of  misinterpretation.  His  nature  rejoiced  in  this  varied  and 
generous  interchange  of  thought  on  the  highest  and  grandest 
themes.  It  stimulated  him  to  bring  out  all  that  was  best  in  him, 
opening  up  vistas  of  possibility  which  had  hitherto  been  undreamed 
of  or  unknown.  It  was  one  of  the  greatest  charms  of  the  Club  in 
those  earlier  years  that  the  meetings  were  held  at  the  houses  of  the 
different  members  in  turn,  thus  gaining  a  certain  domestic  and 
personal  flavor  which  enhanced  their  interest  ,and  attractiveness. 


182  MEMOIR    OF 

How  many,  alas  !  of  its  members  one  now  recalls,  who  are  no 
longer  among  the  living — Dr.  Chandler  Robbins,  Dr.  Rufus  Ellis, 
Dr.  John  S.  Stone,  Dr.  Blagden,  and  Dr.  Manning  of  the  Old 
South,  Dr.  Means  of  Roxbury,  Dr.  Latimer  of  the  Boston  School 
of  Theology,  Mr.  Foote  of  Kings  Chapel,  Mr.  Noyes  of  Wilming 
ton,  Dr.  Gray  of  Cambridge.  It  was  inevitable  that  discussion 
often  turned  upon  points  where  opinion  differed  vitally ;  but 
though  there  was  no  concealment  of  opinion,  yet  unvarying  Chris 
tian  courtesy  kept  the  members  in  harmonious  feeling.  But  here  as 
elsewhere,  Dr.  Wharton  saw  elements  in  the  situation  which  enabled 
him  to  sit  with  a  certain  ease  and  freedom,  where  others  might  have 
been  hampered  by  the  limitations  of  sect.  Again  he  was  always 
inwardly  amused  at  the  fact  that  they  should  meet  as  members  of 
varying  sects,  unable  to  throw  off  denominational  ties  which  seemed 
to  have  so  little  significance,  and  yet  to  wrhich  they  were  expected  to 
be  loyal.  The  very  fact  that  they  could  meet  at  all,  seemed  to  put 
their  differences  in  a  confused  light,  and  begat  the  incongruousness 
which  is  the  soul  of  wit.  Dr.  Wharton  loved  to  play  with  the 
contradictions  and  confusions,  which  the  Club  by  its  very  nature 
originated.  He  could  not  forget  that  the  Baptists  were  standing 
for  immersion,  and  were  bound  to  regard  him  as  having  no  valid 
baptism ;  or  that  Methodist  Bishops  had  been  created  as  if  by 
accident  by  an  Anglican  Presbyter  ;  or  that  Congregatioualists  were 
abandoning  those  minor  points  of  their  attitude  which  had  led 
them  to  revolt  against  the  Church  of  England.  He  was  quick  to 
perceive  high  ecclesiastical  claims  on  the  part  of  those  who  had  in 
validated  them  in  others,  or  utterances  of  a  radical  or  unorthodox 
kind  on  the  parts  of  champions  of  orthodoxy.  There  was  one 
incident  which  he  was  fond  of  relating,  as  an  illustration  of  the 
confusion  which  this  Club  produced  upon  the  mind  of  a  stranger 
unaccustomed  to  its  method.  On  an  occasion  when  it  met  at  his 
own  house,  he  had  as  a  guest  a  venerable  Episcopal  clergyman,  of 
the  old  fashioned  Evangelical  School,  who  for  the  first  time  listened 
to  the  discussion  of  a  vital  religious  question,  in  which  every  possible 
attitude  of  criticism  was  represented,  and  who  failed  to  find  himself 
in  the  utterances  of  those  whom  he  knew,  or  with  whom  he  had 
naturally  supposed  he  should  be  in  agreement.  But  there  was  one 
utterance  of  the  evening,  to  which  his  soul  responded  fervently,  and 
when  he  inquired  of  his  host  after  the  Club  had  departed,  who  the 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHAKTON.  183 

dear  orthodox  brother  was  who  had  so  delighted  him,  he  was  told 

to  his  astonishment  that  it  was  Rev.  Dr.  P ,  a  distinguished 

Unitarian  divine,  from  whom  he  had  hitherto  regarded  himself  as 
separated  by  an  impassable  gulf. 

The  same  generous  and  graceful  hospitality  which  had  marked 
Dr.  Wharton's  life  in  Gambier  and  in  Brookline  was  a  character 
istic  also^of  his  residence  in  Cambridge.  He  delighted  in  having 
the  theological  students  at  evening  parties,  and  spent  time  and 
thought  in  devising  sources  of  amusement  or  entertainment,  as  on 
festivals  like  Christmas  or  Thanksgiving  Day. 

Perhaps  in  later  years  he  participated  less  in  the  enjoyment 
which  he  prepared  for  others,  preferring  to  retire  to  his  study  while 
still  happy  in  the  consciousness  of  the  pleasure  he  was  giving.  Dis 
tinguished  foreigners  visiting  the  country  were  frequently  invited 
to  make  his  house  their  home.  Among  these  was  Dean  Howson, 
whose  reputation  was  then  great  as  the  joint  author  with  Cony- 
beare,  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  St.  Paul.  But  the  visitor  from 
abroad  who  created  the  deepest  interest  was  Canon  Kingsley.  He 
had  reached  this  country  with  his  daughter  in  a  condition  of  physi 
cal  weakness — the  indications,  though  we  did  not  know  it  then,  of 
that  premature  decline,  which  carried  him  off  in  the  fulness  of  his 
years  and  mental  vigor.  Dr.  Wharton  rescued  him  from  a  posi 
tion  where  he  was  wearing  himself  with  evening  speeches;  and 
from  the  unhealthy  excitement  brought  him  away  to  the  repose 
of  his  home  in  Cambridge.  Here  for  some  time  he  rested, 
enjoying  quietly  the  society  of  those  whom  it  must  have  been  a 
pleasure  to  meet.  Among  others  came  the  poet  Longfellow,  who 
dined  with  him  and  afterwards  spent  the  evening.  Kingsley  at 
this  time  was  nervous  and  irritable,  expressing  himself  vigorously 
in  denunciation  of  all  things  obnoxious,  but  under  the  influence 
of  Longfellow's  gentle  ways  and  the  genial  unobtrusive  manners 
of  his  host,  he  gradually  softened  and  mellowed,  till  the  man 
stood  forth  who  had  charmed  the  world  with  his  books.  Mr.  Long 
fellow  was  trying  to  interest  him  in  the  subject  of  Roman  ruins, 
and  in  a  plan  then  recently  suggested  for  draining  the  Campagna; 
but  Kingsley  refused  to  be  interested,  declaring  that  he  had  never 
been  to  Rome,  because  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  visit  a  city 
which  gloried  in  its  ruins;  all  that  he  cared  to  know  about  Rome 
he  could  gather  from  Longfellow's  poetry.  Mr.  Longfellow  spoke 


184  MEMOIR   OF 

of  Hypatia  as  the  finest  historical  novel  which  had  ever  been 
written.  On  Dr.  Wharton's  remarking  that  if  Mr.  Kingsley  had 
not  been  in  Rome,  he  had  made  a  thorough  study  of  Alexandria, 
Kingsley  confessed  to  having  gathered  from  books  all  that  he  knew 
of  that  famous  city,  where  Hypatia  lectured  and  St.  Cyril  so  sadly 
misrepresented  the  spirit  of  the  new  religion. 

This  incident  may  not  be  out  of  place  as  a  picture  and  a  type 
of  Dr.  Wharton's  domestic  life.  It  recalls  another  occasion  when 
Kingsley  was  brought  into  connection  with  the  beautiful  St.  John's 
Chapel  of  the  Theological  School.  Although  Dr.  Wharton  had 
promised  him  that  he  should  be  exempt  from  speech-making  while 
his  guest,  yet  he  was  anxious  that  the  students  should  have  the 
opportunity  to  hear  the  voice  of  one  of  England's  greatest  preachers, 
that  one  who  was  chiefly  associated  with  English  literature  in  the 
popular  mind  should  appear  before  them  as  a  dignitary  of  the 
English  Church.  On  being  asked  by  Dr.  Wharton  to  accompany 
him  to  evening  prayers,  Kingsley  readily  consented,  and  after 
being  introduced  to  the  congregation  from  the  chancel,  he  broke 
his  intention  to  be  silent,  making  an  address,  which  those  who 
had  the  privilege  of  hearing  will  never  forget — an  address  which 
was  significant  of  his  character  as  a  man,  and  containing  also  an 
epitome  of  the  theology  for  which  he  stood  as  the  most  prominent 
English  representative.  Referring  to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
as  a  bond  of  unity  amongst  English-speaking  peoples,  and  to  the 
peculiar  pleasure  which  it  gave  him  to  hear  its  familiar  language 
so  far  from  home,  he  dwelt  upon  the  thought  that  there  was  one 
thing  which  it  was  always  becoming  to  say,  under  any  circum 
stances  to  any  audience,  no  matter  whether  educated  or  uneducated, 
whether  composed  of  students  for  the  ministry  or  for  any  other  pro 
fession,  which  should  be  taken  for  the  lodestar  of  their  theology 
and  of  their  lives — "  He  hath  showed  thee,  0  man,  what  is  good,  and 
what  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justice,  and  to  love 
mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God." 

During  the  first  few  years  of  his  residence  in  Cambridge,  Dr. 
Wharton  continued  to  exhibit  the  same  interest  and  activity  in  what 
may  be  called  ecclesiastical  politics  that  he  had  shown  when  a  lay 
man  in  Philadelphia  or  in  Gambier  or  during  his  residence  in 
Brookline.  Politics  whether  secular  or  ecclesiastical  was  to  him 
a  natural  sphere.  He  was  at  home  on  the  floor  of  conventions, 


DE.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  185 

enjoying  the  sense  of  leadership,  recognizing  the  way  out  of  the 
snarls  and  tangles  of  legislation,  carrying  in  his  mind  easily  the 
bearing  and  application  of  by-laws  and  constitutions,  divining  also 
the  moods  of  popular  bodies,  and  aware  of  the  necessity  of  chang 
ing  a  course  in  time,  in  order  to  avoid  defeat.  Any  one  who  has 
heard  him  or  watched  him  on  these  occasions  must  have  seen  in  him 
the  ecclesiastical  lawyer,  who  felt  the  superiority  which  he  pos 
sessed  in  a  knowledge  of  law  and  of  men,  together  with  the  native 
delight  which  the  exercise  of  his  faculties  was  affording  him ;  on 
such  occasions  he  was  supreme,  and  without  a  rival.  Had  he 
lived  in  the  days  when  Kings  chose  their  ministers  of  slate  from 
among  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  realm,  he  might  have  performed 
services  which  in  these  times  of  separation  of  Church  and  State, 
are  no  longer  possible. 

The  days  in  which  he  was  active  in  conventions  and  concerned 
with  ecclesiastical  legislation  were  unfortunately  dark  days  for  the 
cause  which  he  had  at  heart.  In  the  decade  of  the  sixties  repres 
sive  measures  were  enacted  or  in  contemplation  by  the  General  Con 
vention  which  seemed  to  him  to  limit  the  rightful  privileges  and 
liberty  of  one  of  the  great  historical  parties  in  the  Church.  It 
had  been  a  marked  feature  of  the  Evangelical  School  that  it  culti 
vated  the  acquaintance  and  friendship  of  the  various  religious 
bodies,  believed  in  exchange  of  services  and  generally  sought  to 
maintain  that  open  attitude  which  has  characterized  the  American 
church  from  the  early  days  of  this  republic.  But  this  amicable 
interchange  was  fast  becoming  obnoxious  to  the  opposite  party  in 
the  church,  who  building  upon  the  tenet  of  apostolical  succession, 
refused  to  recognize  directly  or  indirectly  the  validity  of  other  than 
Episcopal  orders,  and  who  felt  outraged  by  the  acts  of  their  brethren 
which  seemed  to  commit  them  to  an  attitude  which  they  disowned. 
It  may  be  admitted  now  that  there  was  a  hardship  on  both  sides — 
that  the  conflict  was  an  inevitable  one,  which  the  majority  had  the 
unquestioned  power  of  determining,  a  dark  day  for  the  minority 
who  saw  what  seemed  a  Christian  privilege  curtailed  in  the  interest 
of  a  tenet  which  they  abhorred.  In  these  controversies  Dr.  Wharton 
had  borne  a  prominent  part  and  it  fell  to  his  lot  to  see  a  favorite 
cause  defeated.  He  did  not  see  then,  though  he  did  at  a  later  time, 
that  the  defeat  was  but  temporary,  that  the  relief  for  which  he 
worked  would  come,  but  in  other  ways  than  he  advocated ;  that  the 


186  MEMOIR   OF 

rising  sentiment  of  Christian  unity,  if  it  became  a  sentiment  of 
Protestant  Christendom,  would  be  sure  to  sweep  away  every  barrier 
which  thwarted  its  progress. 

Any  account  of  Dr.  Wharton's  efforts  to  prevent  the  adoption 
of  restrictive  legislation  would  be  imperfect,  without  alluding  to 
the  motive  which  inspired  him.  It  was  not  a  narrow  policy  that 
actuated  him,  but  a  chivalrous  attempt  to  defend  a  minority  that 
seemed  to  him  in  danger  of  being  ruthlessly  sacrificed  to  the  tyranny 
of  a  majority.  This  sympathy  with  those  who  were  unjustly  treated, 
whether  parties  or  individuals,  especially  if  those  exercising  the  in 
justice  were  in  positions  of  power  or  influence  constitutes  the  expla 
nation  of  much  in  his  career,  which  would  otherwise  be  inexplicable. 
A  case  of  injustice  awoke  an  instinctive  sense  of  indignation,  and 
it  made  little  difference  to  him,  what  might  be  a  man's  religious 
or  theological  opinions,  he  was  his  champion  and  sympathizer. 
There  are  those  who  are  keenly  alive  to  the  truth  of  this  statement, 
who  are  conscious  of  owing  to  him  their  redemption  from  the 
disaster  with  which  they  were  threatened  by  the  narrow,  bitter 
prejudices  which  so  .often,  alas!  prevail  in  ecclesiastical  circles. 
And  these,  too,  are  men  with  whose  opinions  he  had  no  sympathy, 
but  in  whom  with  his  accuracy  in  reading  character,  or  discerning 
talent,  he  saw  something  which  was  worth  saving,  and  which  he 
determined  to  save  without  regard  to  party  affiliations. 

Those  miserable  embittered  days  in  which  party  strife  was  the 
characteristic  feature  of  conventions  have  now  passed  away.  The 
church  has  entered  upon  a  new  era.  Those  who  lay  the  stress  upon 
institutionalism  in  religion  will  always,  of  course,  attach  importance 
to  legislation  and  find  in  the  enactment  or  modification  of  canons 
and  by-laws  a  certain  satisfaction.  Those  who  are  contending  for 
other  things — as  individual  liberty  of  conscience  or  action,  or  who 
believe  in  larger  principles  than  constitutions  recognize,  must  be 
content  with  the  appeal  to  reason  and  to  conscience,  as  the  best 
available  means  for  preventing  unwise  or  hasty  legislation.  It  was 
a  remark  of  the  late  Dr.  Stone,  that  the  Evangelical  School  made 
its  great  mistake  when  it  went  into  conventions  as  a  party,  and 
sought  to  attain  spiritual  ends  by  unspiritual  means.  Dr.  Wharton 
came  also  to  the  same  conclusion,  and  regretted  that  he  had  ever 
engaged  in  the  strife.  His  object  had  been  not  an  unworthy  one ; 
he  had  aimed  to  rescue  a  party  from  defeat,  which  was  the  bearer 


DR.    FEANCIS   WHAETON.  187 

of  spiritual  traditions  and  aspirations,  which  had  a  legitimate  home 
in  the  church,  and  this  at  a  moment  when  the  rising  tide  of  eccles- 
iasticism  seemed  to  threaten  it  with  extinction.  He  had  fought  for 
the  cause  with  weapons  in  whose  use  as  a  lawyer  no  one  was  more 
skilful;  some  temporary  successes  also  he  had  gained.  When 
defeat  came,  he  yielded,  accepting  it  with  stoical  fortitude,  and 
retiring  frpm  the  arena,  in  which  the  contest  had  gone  against  him. 
Once  again  however  he  came  up  to  the  exciting  field  of  ecclesiasti 
cal  warfare,  at  the  time  when  the  election  of  the  present  Bishop  of 
Massachusetts  brought  all  theological  issues  in  the  diocese  to  a 
crisis.  He  could  not  be  silent  or  inactive  much  as  he  might  have 
preferred  to  remain  so.  To  his  wide  vision  the  scene  of  conflict 
lay  open  and  exposed  ;  he  quietly  watched  for  the  decisive  moment 
in  the  struggle,  by  his  subtle  adroitness  he  outwitted  his  antagonists 
in  a  manner  sudden  and  unexpected,  and  gained  the  victory.  From 
that  time  he  retired  finally  from  all  participation  in  conventions, 
and  interested  himself  in  other  things. 

It  was  while  he  was  residing  in  Cambridge,  that  the  sense  of 
failure  to  achieve  their  cherished  plans  was  fast  driving  some  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Evangelical  School  into  a  mood  which  wras  ripe 
for  separation.  With  such  a  scheme  Dr.  "Wharton  had  no  sym 
pathy.  It  was  his  attachment  to  the  Church  which  had  led  him 
to  identify  himself  with  the  Evangelical  men  in  their  heroic  strug 
gle;  but  he  declined  to  be  identified  with  any  efforts  to  establish  a 
separatist  organization  whose  motive  should  be  the  mere  negation 
of  High-Church  principles.  His  view  of  the  function  of  parties 
within  the  Church,  forced  him  to  regard  their  mutual  influence 
upon  each  other,  as  a  desirable  and  necessary  means  of  cultivating 
a  comprehensive  Christian  life.  But  in  these  attitudes  taken  by 
themselves,  or  incorporated  into  sects,  he  discerned  a  mischievous 
narrowness  which  defeated  its  own  end.  He  never  abandoned  the 
principles  which  had  wrought  so  powerfully  in  him,  as  to  drive  him 
from  the  world,  into  the  sphere  of  distinctly  religious  things.  He 
continued  to  regard  Christianity  as  having  its  ground  as  a  religion 
in  its  redemptive  aspects — he  emphasized  the  grace  which  coming 
to  the  soul  from  without  wrought  in  it  a  moral  transformation^ 
binding  it  also  in  personal  relations  of  affection  and  devotion  to  a 
sovereign  Lord.  But  for  the  rest,  he  was  open-minded  enough  to 
see  good  in  things  with  which  he  had  no  special  sympathy.  The 


188  MEMOIR   OF 

ways  of  High-Churchmen  or  of  Ritualists  he  found  no  difficulty  in 
tolerating ;  in  their  manifestations  in  history  they  seemed  to  him 
to  have  subserved  a  valuable  purpose.  As  he  witnessed  the  modi 
fications  which  parties  in  the  church  had  undergone,  since  he  first 
knew  them,  he  sometimes  playfully  remarked  that  he  considered 
himself  an  old-fashioned  High-Churchman.  Though  never  in 
doctrinal  sympathy  with  Broad-Churchmen,  he  found  himself  in 
deep  sympathy  with  their  practical  aim,  and  with  their  concep 
tion  of  a  comprehensive  church,  capable  of  including  the  various 
types  of  Christian  belief.  He  was  among  those  invited  to  attend 
the  memorable  meeting  in  New  Haven  which  resulted  in  the 
organization  of  the  American  Church  Congress.  That  Church 
men  should  meet  as  men  for  the  free  discussion  of  issues  on  which 
opinions  differed,  promoting  by  this  means  mutual  understanding 
and  good  will, — with  this  principle  he  was  in  cordial  agreement. 

An  article  published  by  Dr.  Wharton  in  the  '  Bibliotheca  Sacra' 
for  the  year  1880,  entitled  Church  Parties  as  Apologists,  is  interest 
ing  in  this  connection  as  not  only  illustrating  the  workings  of  his 
mind  or  his  methods- of  teaching,  but  as  setting  forth  his  convic 
tions  with  an  explicitness  which  leaves  nothing  to  be' desired.  He 
there  reviews  the  attitude  and  history  of  the  successive  parties  that 
have  risen  in  the  English  Church  since  the  Reformation,  finding 
in  each  much  that  is  admirable  but  at  the  same  time  much  to  be 
condemned,  while  they  are  so  organically  related  to  each  other, 
that  all  must  be  included  in  any  picture  of  Christianity  aiming 
to  represent  it  in  well  rounded  completeness.  Dogmatism  has 
its  place  and  function  as  representing  the  intellectual  life  of  the 
Church ;  it  is  a  necessary  phase  in  the  history  of  every  new  move 
ment  in  the  Church,  by  which  it  defines  and  discriminates  its  tenets, 
distinguishing  them  sharply  from  that  which  has  been  rejected  as 
untrue,  and  thus  makes  the  truth  it  holds  its  own  conscious  pos 
session.  But  dogmatism  encounters  great  risks,  when  it  passes  over 
into  a  dead  habit,  after  its  true  work  is  done ;  it  violates  intellectual 
liberty,  it  provokes  reactions  even  against  the  essentials  of  its  faith  ; 
it  depreciates  the  importance  of  the  ethical  and  spiritual  elements 
in  Christianity.  But  equally  deficient  is  the  ethical  party  rising 
in  response  to  the  needs  generated  by  dogmatism  as  in  the  English 
and  Scotch  Churches,  in  the  18th  century  when  it  came  near  losing 
the  distinctive  quality  of  Christianity  altogether.  Nor  can  it  be 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  189 

said  to  have  produced  the  moral  regeneration,  at  which  it  professed 
exclusively  to  aim.  There  is  no  more  striking  contrast  than  between 
the  ethical  proclamations  of  the  Latitudinarian  pulpit  and  the  dis 
content,  the  lawlessness,  and  depravity  of  the  last  century.  What 
was  chiefly  needed  was  the  touching  of  the  emotions  and  the  rousing 
of  the  will  brought  about  by  the  Evangelical  awakening  under 
Wesley  and  Whitefield,  which  not  only  led  to  social  reform  but 
quickened  the  moribund  institutionalism  of  the  Church  till  it 
became  a  new  power  in  the  nation.  But  the  Evangelical  party 
showed  indifference  towards  culture  and  scholarship,  and  its  lack 
of  appreciation  for  the  aesthetic,  particularly  in  music  and  archi 
tecture,  fostered  a  prejudice  against  it  among  literary  men.  It 
exaggerated  also  the  individual  aspects  of  salvation,  overlooking 
the  relation  of  the  individual  to  the  organic  whole, — to  the  mem 
bership  in  a  race  which  Christ  had  redeemed.  It  needed  to  be 
supplemented  by  a  larger  institutionalism  which  should  bind  indi 
viduals  together  in  the  realization  of  a  common  life,  enabling  them 
to  feel  their  oneness  with  the  corporate  church  in  all  the  ages. 
Institutionalism  on  the  other  hand  without  the  saving  grace  of 
individual  freedom  and  aspiration  degenerates  into  a  mere  govern 
ment  which  compresses  and  crushes,  without  fructifying,  till  it  is 
ready  to  instruct  a  Paul  to  tremble  before  the  Roman  governor. 
Sacramentalism  and  sacerdotalism  are  attempts  to  fill  the  vacuum 
of  institutionalism  as  an  organism  abandoned  by  life,  by  endowing 
the  institution  with  the  power  of  emitting  grace.  They  have  a 
certain  affinity  with  current  materialistic  theories  and  from  this 
point  of  view  are  not  wholly  without  some  justification.  But 
sacerdotalism  misunderstands  and  misrepresents  the  links  and 
attachments  in  the  outward  order  of  the  church ;  and  sacrament- 
alism  while  it  has  its  valuable  side  as  against  too  subjective  a  con 
ception  of  God's  relations  to  the  soul,  narrows  the  range  of  the 
sacramental  aspects  of  life,  and  becomes  pernicious  and  destructive 
when  it  seeks  this  substance  of  grace  in  the  sign. 

Ritualism,  considered  in  its  aesthetic  aspect,  is  the  outcome  of  an 
age  which  is  both  artistic  and  humane.  The  love  of  ornament  in 
the  home,  which  nourishes  valuable  industries  and  refined  tastes, 
may  also  have  its  place  in  the  house  of  God.  God  himself  appears 
as  loving  the  beautiful  with  which  he  clothes  his  operations  in  na 
ture.  It  is  well  for  the  poor  that  there  should  be  a  home  for  them 


190  MEMOIR   OF 

glowing  with  rich  colors,  cast  in  impressive  architectural  forms, 
through  whose  aisles  floats  rich  and  solemn  music.  One  need  not 
cavil  at  the  interest  in  his  ecclesiastical  vestments  shown  by  the 
Anglican  minister,  nor  at  music  and  ornaments  too  florid  which 
interest  and  attract  the  poor,  provided  ritualism  stops  at  this  line 
and  does  not  regard  ornamentation  as  a  necessary  means  for  the 
conveyance  of  grace. 

The  name  Broad  Church  carries  no  special  sense,  and  breadth  is 
a  relative  thing.  Those  to  whom  the  name  is  now  applied  may  be 
regarded  as  advance  guards  standing  on  the  frontiers  of  the  Church, 
occupied  in  the  vindication  for  Christianity  of  a  place  in  the  world's 
latest  thought  or  acquisition.  There  is  work  to  be  done  in  the 
field  of  biblical  criticism ;  in  the  study  of  theological  dogmas  by 
the  light  of  psychology  and  sociology ;  in  adjusting  the  principle 
of  evolution  to  the  authority  of  a  divine  revelation  which  teaches 
the  dignity  of  man  and  the  sacredness  of  conscience.  A  party  en 
gaged  in  this  task  acts  under  that  instinctive  energy  of  extension 
which  inheres  in  Christianity ;  it  aims  to  establish  new  defences  of 
the  faith  on  what  wasf  before  alien  ground.  Nor  is  there  any  cause 
for  fear,  even  though  its  conclusions  should  reject  opinions  or  inter 
pretations  of  Scriptures  which  to  many  are  identified  with  the  Chris 
tian  faith.  The  attitude  of  free  inquiry  which  some  deprecate,  dates 
back  to  an  early  age  of  the  Church,  and  then,  as  now,  those  who 
were  assailing  an  enemy  to  the  Church  were  regarded  by  the  more 
timid  as  assailing  the  Church  itself.  Christian  history  is  a  succes 
sion  of  victories  achieved,  of  new  eminences  occupied  by  those  whose 
fortune  is  often  to  be  denounced  at  first,  and  afterwards  accepted  as 
defenders  of  the  faith. 

Views  like  these,  so  comprehensive  and  discriminating,  whose 
tolerance  was  based  on  devotion,  not  independence  to  the  truth, 
were  not  so  familiar  ten  years  ago  as  they  have  since  become.  They 
may  be  taken  as  Dr.  W  barton's  last  message  to  a  Church  in  whose 
affairs  he  had  been  long  and  deeply  interested,  from  active  partici 
pation  in  which  he  was  soon  to  be  shut  out  by  a  call  to  a  wholly 
different  work — it  might  seem  to  some  an  alien  department  of 
human  labor. 

The  years  of  Dr.  Wharton's  residence  in  Cambridge,  uneventful 
as  they  were  in  any  striking  circumstances,  furnish  but  little  ma 
terial  for  the  biographer;  and  yet  these  quiet  years  contain  the 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  191 

record  of  inward  process  and  development.  His  nature,  which 
fitted  him  for  activity  in  the  world  of  affairs/  was  demanding  some 
larger  outlet  for  its  satisfaction.  From  the  time  that  he  came  to 
Cambridge,  he  must  have  begun  to  realize  that  he  was  shut  out 
from  any  adequate  field  of  ministerial  influence,  and  this,  too,  at  a 
moment  when  his  mental  force  was  at  its  height  and  his  capacity 
for  work  4indiminished.  From  the  ecclesiastical  point  of  view,  his 
position  was  proving  a  diminution  and  restriction  rather  than  an 
advance  and  expansion.  The  gradual  failure  of  his  voice  was  ex 
cluding  him  from  the  privilege  of  preaching — that  resource  which 
had  made  the  clerical  office  attractive.  There  was  no  longer  an 
opportunity  for  the  indefatigable  sermonizer  that  he  had  shown 
himself'in  Brookline  ;  he  stood  in  no  pastoral  relation  which  would 
occupy  his  time  and  sympathies.  Under  these  circumstances  he 
found  the  necessary  outlet  for  his  energies  in  his  legal  studies.  He 
never  lost  the  consciousness  of  his  ecclesiastical  position,  but  the 
years  of  his  sojourn  in  the  Christian  ministry  had  so  widened  his 
conception  of  religion,  that  it  did  not  seem  incongruous  that  he 
should  continue  in  a  religious  spirit  the  work  which  he  had  for  a 
time  abandoned  as  a  profession. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  speak  of  the  voluminous  legal  treatises 
which  belong  to  this  period  of  his  life.  The  apparent  ease,  the 
rapidity  with  which  he  sent  them  forth  to  the  world,  was  aston 
ishing.  His  industry  seemed  almost  appalling  to  those  younger 
than  himself  who  fancied  that  they,  too,  were  hard  at  work.  For 
some  years  before  leaving  Cambridge,  in  addition  also  to  his  work 
in  the  Theological  School,  he  was  holding  a  professorship  in  the 
new  Law  School  connected  with  the  Boston  University.  He  was 
also  pushing  his  inquiries  as  a  lawyer  into  new  and  unoccupied  re 
gions.  As  he  surveyed  the  opportunities  which  opened  up  their 
attractions  to  his  vision,  he  often  remarked  that  young  lawyers 
would  do  well  to  cultivate  what  he  called  the  literature  of  the  law. 

It  was  while  he  was  thus  engaged  that  his  own  health,  combined 
with  various  domestic  reasons,  induced  him  reluctantly  to  sever  his 
connection  with  the  Episcopal  Theological  School.  The  education 
of  life  was  still  something  other  and  larger  than  his  own  personal 
volition  would  have  made  it.  His  history  has  in  it  elements  of 
breadth  and  comprehension  which  are  profoundly  suggestive.  As 
the  story  of  a  life,  one  cannot  think  of  it  without  being  deeply 


192  MEMOIR   OF 

moved.  The  forces  which  acted  upon  him  from  without,  and  those 
which  stirred  him  from  within,  reveal  in  their  resultant  a  man  cast 
in  no  ordinary  mould,  touching  life  at  so  many  points  that  it  is 
difficult  to  characterize  or  describe  him.  History,  literature,  psy 
chology,  philosophy,  interested  him  as  well  as  law  and  theology. 
We  may  think  of  him  as  the  young  and  successful  lawyer,  win 
ning  a  reputation  in  his  early  years  with  which  many  would  have 
been  content ;  or  as  the  devoted  layman  and  popular  lay-preacher, 
giving  his  time  and  fortune  to  Christian  work  ;  as  the  clergyman 
and  pastor  and  theological  professor ;  the  versatile  and  voluminous 
writer  of  legal  treatises  with  a  widely  extended  circulation  and 
recognized  as  of  high  authority,  covering  so  many  departments  of 
legal  inquiry  as  to  make  it  cause  for  wonder  that  one  mind  could 
have  compassed  them  all ;  and  finally  ending  his  days  at  Washing 
ton  as  the  legal  adviser  of  the  Department  of  State — a  position 
where  his  vast  legal  acquirements  and  diplomatic  skill  found  their 
fullest  opportunity.  But  an  impression  of  him  remains  to  those 
who  knew  him  best  which  abides  in  the  various  phases  of  his 
career.  He  was  a  man,  faithful,  generous,  devoted,  who  delighted 
in  the  recognition  of  merit  in  others ;  whose  heart  responded  in 
sympathy  with  the  injured  or  oppressed.  His  deep  and  abiding 
interest  in  those  with  whom  he  came  closely  in  contact ;  the  deli 
cate  kindness,  and  the  watchful  care  which  he  found  time  to  de 
vote  to  them  in  the  midst  of  exacting  avocations — these  memories 
remain  with  those  who,  incapable  of  appreciating  him  in  the  wide 
range  of  his  activities,  can  yet  divine  the  most  expressive  quality 
of  the  man. 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  193 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THIRD    JOURNEY    TO    EUROPE,    AND    REMOVAL    TO    WASHINGTON. 

AFTER  twelve  years  of  constant  and  increasing  labor  in  Cam 
bridge  and  Boston,  Dr.  Wharton's  health  began  to  show  signs  of 
breaking  down.  His  throat  had  indeed  long  given  him  uneasiness, 
but  now  new  and  alarming  symptoms  appeared  lower  down.  Dif 
ficulty  of  breathing  while  walking,  or  after  meals  were  the  form  in 
which  the  complaint  manifested  itself.  He  consulted  the  best 
physicians  in  Boston  and  Cambridge,  and  they  decided  that  an 
increase  of  size  and  weight,  and  an  accumulation  of  fat  about  the 
heart  were  the  cause  of  the  trouble.  He  was  placed  upon  a  strict 
regimen  as  to  diet  and  exercise,  and  after  a  time  experienced  great 
relief.  Still  the  results  of  many  years  of  comparatively  sedentary 
life  were  not  to  be  easily  warded  off.  His  numerous  engagements 
had  to  be  fulfilled.  His  Lectures  at  the  Divinity  School,  Cambridge, 
and  the  Boston  University  were  the  chief  claims  upon  him,  but, 
besides  this,  new  editions  of  his  Law  Books  called  for  study  and 
preparation.  In  the  year  1881  he  resolved  to  give  up  his  pro 
fessorships  and  confine  himself  entirely  to  his  books  and  the 
•research  they  demanded.  This  was  a  painful  conclusion  to  come 
to,  but  that  it  was  essential  to  the  preservation  of  his  life  was 
rendered  patent  to  all  beholders,  by  an  event  which  shortly  fol 
lowed.  While  taking  leave  of  his  long  tried,  and  much  beloved 
duties  and  associates,  he  was  seized  with  an  attack  of  faintness  in 
the  street,  falling  down  and  continuing  insensible  for  over  an  hour. 
After  reviving,  he  retained  no  recollection  of  any  special  cause  for 
the  attack  beyond  the  usual  strain  of  the  day's  duties,  nor  after  his 
recovery  did  there  appear  any  bad  results,  but  it  was  evident  that 
a  change  must  be  made.  He  must  relinquish  some  of  his  work, 
and  take  time  for  recreation  and  exercise.  He  decided  to  return  to 
his  native  city  of  Philadelphia.  He  had  passed  twenty  or  more 
years  of  absence,  with  only  occasional  visits ;  many  of  his  early 
friends  were  gone,  but  there  were  still  enough  left  to  make  the 
13 


194  MEMOIR   OF 

prospect  of  being  once  more  amongst  them  a  heart-cheering  one. 
He  felt  the  warning  he  had  received  to  be  a  solemn  one,  and 
thought  his  work  was  well-nigh  done,  and  was  far  from  anticipating 
that  after  a  short  repose  there  were  still  some  years  of  active  life 
before  him.  After  resigning  his  position  in  Cambridge,  he  resolved 
to  pass  a  year  in  Europe,  trusting  to  the  entire  change  to  aid  him  as 
much  as  the  freedom  from  care  and  study.  Of  this  journey,  how 
ever,  no  very  cheering  records  remain.  The  effect  was  not  quite  as 
satisfactory  as  was  hoped.  A  few  letters  written  at  the  time,  will 
best  give  the  mingled  pains  and  pleasures  of  the  experiment. 

"LIVERPOOL,  October  22nd,  1881. 

"  As  you  will  have  heard,  I  hope,  by  cablegram,  before  now,  we 
are  all  safe  on  dry  land  again,  after  a  most  trying  voyage  of  nearly 
eleven  days.  We  had  a  furious  blow7  which  lasted  three  days,  but 
the  ship  was  a  good  and  safe  one,  and  weathered  the  storm  well, 
though  extremely  dirty  and  uncomfortable.  Dr.  Wharton  was  quite 
well  all  the  time,  and  made  lots  of  acquaintances.  Among  these 
were  some  Cambridge  people  whom  we  knew  all  about,  an  English 
clergyman  and  his  wife,  a  family  from  Cleveland,  and  some  New 
Yorkers,  and  last,  but  not  least,  some  British  young  men.  When 
we  parted  this  morning  at  the  Custom-house,  it  was  like  the  break 
ing  up  of  a  tea-party.  Dr.  Wharton  has  such  accessible  manners,  he 
seems  to  have  been  the  life  of  the  ship,  and  I  heard  nothing  but 
expressions  of  regard,  and  hopes  to  meet  again,  and  protestations  of 
friendship,  all  of  which,  I  suppose,  will  be  forgotten  before  long. 
Here  it  is  the  same  old,  wet,  black,  smoky  Liverpool — a  big,  dismal 
hotel,  the  Adelphi,  but  a  warm  fire  in  our  rooms,  and  an  excellent 
dinner.  Dr.  Wharton  went  to  Church  this  morning,  and  now  has 
gone  to  the  evening  service.  We  start  to-morrow  for  a  leisurely 
trip  to  London  by  the  Midland  R.  R.  We  shall  stop  at  the 
Peacock  Inn,  Rowsley,  to  see  Chats  worth  and  Haddon  Hall,  which 
are  in  that  neighborhood,  and  be  in  London  before  another  Sunday. 
I  am  so  relieved  to  be  safely  here  and  all  well,  that  I  can  assure 
you  I  joined  very  heartily  in  the  doxology  which  was  sung  on 
board  the  steamer  this  morning  just  before  leaving,  when  all  the 
passengers  were  taking  their  breakfast,  and  which  had  a  most  im 
pressive  effect/7 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  195 

"LONDON,  October  27th. 

"  We  arrived  here  on  Wednesday,  having  stopped  on  the  way 
from  Liverpool  at  Rowsley,  where  there  is  a  country  inn  in  a  very 
pretty  country.  We  meant  to  stay  there  some  days,  but  when  we 
got  up  in  the  morning  we  found  a  furious  rain  falling,  which,  by 
twelve  o'clock,  turned  to  snow.  It  was  also  extremely  cold.  We 
had  stopped  on  purpose  to  see  Chatsworth  and  Haddon  Hall,  so, 
determined  not  to  be  beaten  at  once  by  adverse  circumstances,  we 
ordered  a  carriage,  and  drove  off.  The  country  was  invisible,  and 
the  steam  on  the  windows  of  the  carriage  prevented  our  seeing  even 
the  driver.  However,  when  we  reached  Chatsworth,  we  made  a 
very  satisfactory  tour  of  the  house,  seeing  all  the  curiosities  and  all 
the  pictures  with  great  names  attached  to  them — Murillo,  Holbein, 
Leonardo,  etc.  We  were  much  interested  in  the  historical  por 
traits,  of  which  there  are  many,  and  in  the  canopy  worked  by 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  Finally,  after  we  had  been  all  through  the 
magnificent  rooms,  we  were  brought  to  a  stand  before  a  portrait  of 
the  present  Duke,  and  right  beside  it  one  of  his  second  son,  Lord 
Frederick  Cavendish,  who,  you  know,  was  recently  murdered  in 
Ireland.  It  seemed  to  me  placed  there  to  show  the  vanity  of  the 
whole  exhibition.  As  these  pictures  are  the  last  thing  shown,  1 
spoke  to  the  attendants  about  them,  but  they  were  very  obtuse, 
and  showed  no  sympathy,  though  both  dressed  in  deep  mourning. 
They  told  us  some  of  the  family  were  expected  next  day,  and 
showed  us  the  family  dining-room,  all  prepared  for  use.  It  was 
carpeted  with  a  magnificent  velvet  rug,  which  in  places  near  the 
sideboard  was  pieced  with  carpet  of  a  different  pattern  ;  so  you  see 
even  dukes  have  to  economize.  Of  course,  we  could  not  go  through 
the  gardens  on  such  a  day,  and  therefore  returned  to  the  inn,  where, 
after  lunch,  the  girls  and  Dr.  Wharton  walked  to  Haddon  Hall,  the 
rain  having  held  up  a  little.  This  they  enjoyed  extremely.  We  de 
cided,  however,  that  the  season  is  too  late  for  England,  and  came 
on  to  London  next  day.  We  are  now  settled  in  a  comfortable 
lodging  on  Half  Moon  Street,  near  Hyde  Park,  and  only  a  few 
doors  from  Piccadilly.  We  went  out  to  Sydenham  to-day  to  see 
Mrs.  B.  There  are  plenty  of  people  in  London,  as  Parliament 
assembled  on  Tuesday,  and  I  see  some  very  stately,  well-dressed 
people  in  the  streets.  But  this  is  a  bad  season  of  the  year  for 


J96  MEMOIR    OF 

London,  and  I  think  we  shall  leave  here  in  two  weeks  for  Brus 
sels.  Dr.  Wharton  is  easily  tired,  and  I  think  feels  the  effect  of  the 
steamer  now,  though  he  seemed  so  well  at  the  time.  We  want  to 
be  settled  in  winter  quarters  in  Rome  by  December  1st.  There  is 
really  very  little  comfort  in  travelling  here  in  winter,  as  there  are 
no  fires  in  the  cars,  and  not  much  fire  anywhere.  Oh,  for  a  grate  full 
of  good  Narragansett  coal !  Our  little  smoky  fire  has  to  be  watched 
all  the  time  as  if  it  were  wood.  How  far  behind  is  England  in 
every  comfort !" 

"  LONDON,  November  5th. 

"  Our  visit  to  London  is  almost  over.  We  leave  here  on  Wed 
nesday  and  go  to  Brussels,  where  our  Continental  journey  will 
begin.  I  think  we  have  made  the  most  of  our  time.  Dr.  Wharton 
and  the  girls  have  been  out  every  day  and  all  day.  When  I  read 
Hare's  '  Walks  in  London'  and  find  how  every  street  and  almost 
every  house  has  a  story,  I  feel  that  a  year  would  not  be  too  long  to 
exhaust  the  interest  of  the  city.  Whitehall  and  the  Strand  are 
more  to  me  than  the  grand  new  part  of  the  town,  and  I  read  about 
them,  and  go  out  and  imagine  how  it  once  was.  Dr.  Wharton 
lunched  yesterday  with  Mr.  Allen,  Editor  of  the  '  Quarterly  Re 
view/  and  in  the  evening  dined  with  Lord  Coleridge,  the  Chief 
Justice.  To-day,  Mr.  Westlake  invites  us  to  a  reception,  which 
being  Sunday,  wTe  have  declined.  To-morrow,  Sir  Robert  Philli- 
more  has  invited  us  to  tea,  and  we  also  lunch  to-morrow  with 
Mr.  Freemantle,  a  clergyman.  Dr.  Wharton' s  friends  are  all  in 
the  legal  line  ;  he  has  corresponded  with  them  for  years,  and  now 
enjoys  seeing  them.  If  it  were  only  a  different  season,  I  should 
enjoy  staying  longer,  but  we  must  hurry  on  before  winter  catches 
us.  I  spent  a  long  morning  at  Westminster  Abbey,  where  one  of 
the  latest  tombs,  of  course,  is  that  of  Dean  Stanley.  There  is  also 
a  bust  of  Kingsley,  and  one  of  Keble  just. placed  there,  and  there 
is  soon  to  be  one  of  Longfellow.  Poets  and  Kings  are  the  great,  it 
seems,  and  above  all,  warriors." 

"  WIESBADEN,  Xov.  12th. 

"  You  see  by  this  that  we  are  further  on  our  way,  having  arrived 
here  last  evening.  We  crossed  from  Dover  to  Calais  in  a  fine  stiff 
breeze  and  high  sea,  but  it  was  soon  over  and  we  took  the  train  for 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  197 

Brussels,  where  we  spent  a  day  in  going  over  the  sights.  A  very 
fine  gallery  was  the  chief  attraction.  Although  the  Rubens,  Van 
Dycks,  etc.,  are  the  things  to  admire,  I  confess  the  lovely  modern 
pictures  held  me  longest.  There  are  beautiful  shops  in  Brussels, 
and  Dr.  Wharton  has  already  bought  a  present  for  each  child  in 
the  family.  We  left  Brussels  on  Friday  and  continued  to  Cologne. 
There  is  not  much  to  see  on  the  journey,  but  of  course  the  Cathedral 
was  an  object  of  interest  at  the  end.  Our  hotel  looked  out  on  the 
Rhine,  which  was  a  sea  of  liquid  mud.  At  nine  next  day  we  again 
took  the  train,  and,  I  am  happy  to  say,  with  a  bright  sun  shining. 
Here  the  true  glory  of  the  Rhine  begins.  The  road  lies  beside  the 
river  all  the  way,  and  every  tower  and  castle  is  not  only  beautiful, 
but  connected  with  some  romantic  legend.  At  two  o'clock  we 
arrived  at  AViesbaden.  Now  we  are  delightfully  established  at  the 
Hotel  des  Quatre  Saisons,  right  opposite  the  Kursaal,  and  with  the 
pleasant  prospect  of  a  stay  of  at  least  two  weeks.  This  is  said  to 
be  a  particularly  fine  climate.  Dr.  Wharton  and  the  girls  have 
gone  to  church  this  morning.  He  is  pretty  well,  but  he  feels  any 
change  in  his  usual  habits,  and  I  am  very  uneasy  about  him  all  the 
time.  God  grant  we  may  be  able  to  take  care  of  him,  and  if  we 
find  he  cannot  be  as  well  and  comfortable  here,  we  shall  have  to 
return  home.  But,  so  far,  we  have  done  very  well.  He  enjoys 
things  very  much,  and  is  extremely  cheerful.  Everything  is  bright 
and  dry  here,  a  blessed  relief  after  the  London  fog  and  smoke. 
There  are  plenty  of  people  but  none  that  we  know.  A  fine  band 
plays  three  times  a  day  opposite,  and  a  good  library  of  English, 
French,  and  German  is  close  at  hand." 

"  WIESBADEN,  November  17th. 

"  We  have  now  been  more  than  a  week  here,  and  are  nearly  tired 
of  it,  but  we  are  so  comfortable  that  we  hate  to  move.  We  have 
delightful  rooms  and  good  fires  and  food,  and  that  in  such  in 
clement  weather  is  a  great  deal.  A  storm  of  rain  set  in  last 
Monday,  and  continued  four  days.  Fortunately  there  is  not  much 
to  be  seen.  We  go  every  afternoon  to  hear  the  band  play  at  the 
Kursaal.  Scientific  and  popular  music  are  performed  in  equal  pro 
portions,  and  in  first-rate  style.  The  large  room  is  generally  two- 
thirds  full,  but  we  never  see  a  familiar  face.  In  fact,  this  place  is 
out  of  season  for  Americans.  We  shall  leave  here  by  Saturday, 


198  MEMOIR   OF 

and  go  to  Heidelberg,  on  Monday  to  Basle,  thence  to  Luzerne,  and 
over  the  St.  Gothard.  By  Thursday,  I  hope,  to  Milan,  Friday 
to  Florence,  and  thence  to  Rome.  We  intend  to  leave  early  in  the 
spring,  and  come  back  slowly  over  the  same  ground.  The  spring, 
as  you  know,  opens  early  in  Italy,  and  we  can  see  things  to  much 
greater  advantage  when  the  days  are  longer.  Now  it  is  dark  by 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  w-e  have  really  no  time,  as  the 
one  o'clock  table  d'hote  takes  up  the  morning.  We  get  up  at 
seven  and  have  our  breakfast,  and  then  read  or  if  it  is  fine  go  out. 
At  one  comes  dinner,  according  to  the  German  custom.  Of  course 
it  is  too  early  in  the  day,  but  it  suits  Dr.  Wharton  remarkably  well, 
and  he  has  had  no  headache  since  he  has  been  here.  He  goes  with 
the  girls  to  the  theatre  sometimes,  but  it  is  so  very  dull,  so  very 
decorous,  so  highly  refined  and  classical,  that  they  find  reading  at 
home  more  amusing.  I  went  once  and  heard  one  of  Schiller's 
tragedies,  but  though  I  am  at  home  in  the  colloquial  German, 
I  found  the  long  speeches  and  exalted  sentiments  of  Schiller's 
heroes  quite  beyond  me." 

"FLORENCE,  December  3rd. 

"  It  has  been  a  longer  interval  than  usual  since  I  wrote,  but  we 
have  been  travelling  constantly.  We  left  Wiesbaden  a  week  from 
last  Wednesday,  and  came  down  to  Basle,  where  we  spent  a  Sunday, 
having  passed  through  Heidelberg,  and  spent  a  day  there.  It  w7as 
cold  and  rainy,  of  course,  but  looked  more  cheerful  at  Basle,  where 
our  rooms  overhung  the  river  and  where  we  had  a  bright  open  fire, 
a  sign  that  we  had  left  German  stoves  behind  us. 

"  We  crossed  the  St.  Gothard  in  a  furious  snow  storm,  and  the 
hills  around  here  are  covered  with  snow.  We  have  no  thermometer 
but  I  should  say  that  it  was  colder  than  at  any  time  last  winter  in 
Philadelphia,  and  Dr.  Wharton  has  not  been  at  all  well.  We  left 
Basle  on  Monday  and  came  down  to  Luzerne,  our  party  having 
been  augmented  by  Rita,  our  Italian  maid.  It  was  for  once  a 
lovely  afternoon  when  we  reached  Luzerne,  and  we  walked  about, 
and  saw  the  queer  old  towers  and  Thorwaldsen's  Lion,  and  next 
morning  crossed  the  St.  Gothard  and  reached  Milan  in  the  evening. 
The  journey  we  used  to  make  in  three  days  was  made  in  one. 
There  are  several  tunnels  in  crossing,  and  when  we  came  to  the 
long  one  at  Goeschenen  it  did  not  seem  to  me  much  longer  than 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  199 

the  others.  We  came  through  in  twenty-two  minutes,  and  felt 
none  the  worse  though  both  Dr.  Wharton  and  I  were  a  little 
nervous.  We  met  a  Cambridge  acquaintance  on  the  train,  who 
told  us  he  was  on  his  way  to  Venice  to  meet  Mr.  Brooks,  and  they 
two  were  going  to  sail  thence  for  Bombay  to  spend  the  winter  in 
India.  Mr.  Brooks  will,  I  suppose,  go  round  the  world  before  he 
returns.  1  rejoice  to  think,  we  are  now  only  one  day  from  our  most 
distant  point,  Rome,  and  after  that  only  five  days  from  the  steamer 
to  come  home.  You  will  be  surprised  at  this  sudden  collapse  of 
my  enthusiasm  for  travelling,  but  I  a-m  extremely  uneasy  about 
Dr.  Wharton.  He  is  not  well,  and  travelling  does  not  agree  with 
him.  The  changes  of^meals  and  hours  are  the  worst  thing  for 
him.  We  shall  not  think  of  remaining  abroad  this  summer,  and 
I  shall  be  thankful  if  we  get  through  the  winter.  Although  he 
tries  to  be  cheerful  it  is  very  much  against  the  grain,  for  in  travel 
ling  it  is  impossible  to  make  him  really  comfortable.  Rita,  our 
maid,  is  extremely  useful,  and  perhaps  in  Rome,  we  can  take  an 
apartment  and  make  things  more  homelike.  We  only  stayed  one 
day  in  Milan,  but  that  was  long  enough  to  see  the  Cathedral,  and 
the  '  Last  Supper/  and  we  reached  here  Thursday.  We  have  a 
very  pretty  yellow  salon,  and  the  sun  shines  on  us  all  day  long 
across  the  Arno.  We  have  already  visited  the  Uffizi  and  the  Pitti 
galleries,  and  hope  to  do  the  principal  churches  before  leaving, 
though  Dr.  Wharton  and  I  are  pretty  much  hors  de  combat.  For 
tunately  Rita  is  able  -to  go  everywhere  with  the  girls,  as  she  is  a 
woman  of  fifty,  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  the  sights  and 
places  we  wish  to  visit." 

"ROME,  Dec.  14th,  '82. 

«  We  came  here  from  Florence  last  week,  and  found  a  comfort 
able  suite  of  rooms  waiting  for  us  at  the  Hotel  de  FEurope,  Piazza 
di  Spagna.  It  is  the  highest  part  of  Rome,  and  we  have  the 
highest  apartment  in  it.  There  are  ten  flights  of  stairs,  but  as 
there  is  an  elevator,  that  does  not  matter.  In  Rome  the  value  of 
rooms  increases  as  you  go  up.  The  higher,  the  purer  air.  I  think 
we  shall  avoid  all  chance  of  malaria.  Their  great  charm,  however, 
is  that  they  look  out  on  a  terrace  50  ft.  long  by  20  ft.  broad,  where 
the  sun  basks  all  day,  and  where  the  stone  balustrade  and  pots  of 
aloes  make  it  look  very  Italian  indeed.  It  is  laid  out  directly  on 


200  MEMOIR   OF 

the  roof  of  the  Hotel,  and  commands  a  beautiful  view  of  all  the 
spires  and  roofs  and  cupolas  of  Rome  and  of  every  sunrise  and 
sunset.  It  is  peculiarly  appropriate  to  us,  as  neither  of  us  are 
able  to  go  about  much,  and  this  terrace  is  a  good  place  for  exer 
cise.  We  shall  do  very  well,  if  we  are  only  allowed  moderate 
health,  but  sometimes  my  heart  fails  when  I  see  how  impossible 
it  is  to  minister  to  a  heart  and  mind  ill  at  ease.  The  life  here  is 
too  great  a  contrast  to  Dr.  Wharton's  habits  for  years,  to  be  pleasant 
to  him.  Perhaps  later  he  may  endure  it  better,  but  now  I  some 
times  think  it  might  be  better  for  us  to  come  home  at  once,  and 
not  keep  him  in  discomfort  all  winter.  He  is  not  well,  and  has 
few  books  about  him,  and  after  the  girls^  have  seen  Rome,  they 
will  have  seen  a  great  deal,  and  we  would  cheerfully  bear  the  dis 
comfort  of  a  winter  voyage,  if  there  was  peace  and  contentment 
at  the  other  end.  Not  that  we  have  at  present  any  positive  idea 
of  the  kind,  but  I  like  to  think  it  is  possible.  It  is  comforting 
to  think  we  are  only  two  days  and  a  night  direct  route  to  Paris, 
and  that  the  Cunarders  are  equally  safe  winter  and  summer.  He 
goes  out  every  day  with  the  girls,  and  they  are  much  interested  in 
the  ruins,  etc.,  but  twenty-four  hours  have  to  be  got  through  each 
day,  and  we  have  not  yet  had  time  to  hunt  up  any  Americans. 
It  is  a  great  contrast  to  the  going  in  and  out  of  the  Seminary  and 
Lecture  Room,  and  the  meeting  bright,  clever  people  at  home. 
The  alleviations  of  climate  and  scenery,  and  interesting  associa 
tions  are  nothing  to  him  compared  to  society^  and  I  am  dreadfully 
afraid  his  recovery  will  be  retarded  by  his  present  life,  instead  of 
assisted.  I  sent  for  a  Doctor  immediately  upon  our  arrival  here 
(he  is  the  best  in  Rome  and  had  been  strongly  recommended  to 
us).  He  is  not  of  opinion  that  we  should  return  to  America,  but 
he  is  very  uneasy  about  Dr.  Wharton.  He  comes  to  see  him  every 
day,  and  is  a  great  comfort  to  me.  He  gives  him  nothing  but 
Bromide  and  Hunyadi  water.  This  is  indeed  a  gloomy  letter,  but 
I  cannot  write  cheerfully  when  my  heart  is  heavy.  I  must  leave 
the  sights  to  the  girls,  and  write  what  is  in  my  thoughts.  I  only 
beg  you  to  help  me  with  your  prayers  at  this  most  trying  time." 

"DEC.  15th. 

"  To  day  things  seem  to  improve.      Dr.  Wharton  has  had  no  bad 
symptoms,  and  is  sitting  writing  comfortably  beside  me.     If  we 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  201 

can  only  get  into  regular  habits  here,  with  sufficient  occupation, 
1  we  may  be  happy  yet/  in  God's  mercy.  I  hope  it  will  be  so,  as 
the  account  you  give  of  the  rigorous  winter  around  you  does  not 
seem  suitable  for  invalids.  The  details  you  give  of  home  and 
Thanksgiving  Day  do  seem  very  sweet  and  attractive  however,  and 
I  hope  ere  another  Thanksgiving  Day  we  shall  be  settled  in  some 
modest  Fhila.  mansion,  and  never  again  attempt  a  search  for  i  a 
mild  climate  and  change  of  scene/  And  yet,  if  we  had  not  come, 
we  should  feel  that  we  had  not  done  all  we  could  for  his  health,  and 
now  it  is  a  comfort  to  me  to  think  we  have  passed  through  the  most 
fatiguing  part,  and  can  come  home  easily  at  any  time.  I  wish  you 
could  look  in  upon  us ;  Rita,  our  maid,  is  making  the  arrival  of 
the  week's  '  lavage/  an  excuse  for  much  shrill  French  and  Italian 
talk.  You  would  suppose  clothes  had  never  been  washed,  mended, 

and  paid  for  before.     E is  in  her  room,  working  at  Xmas 

presents;  neither  her  Father  nor  I  are  allowed  to  pass  through 
this  room,  so  we  are  perforce  in  the  salon,  listening  to  the  tang 
ing  of  M.'s  guitar,  and  occasionally  walking  out  on  the  terrace. 
If  I  had  the  spirits,  I  could  make  a  romance  out  of  this  terrace. 
It  overlooks  the  whole  city,  with  its  renowned  temples,  ruins,  domes, 
and  spires.  It  also  overlooks  all  the  neighboring  windows  and  bal 
conies,  and  thus  makes  a  contrast  between  the  mighty  Past  and 
modern  Italian  life.  Right  opposite  is  a  complete  pigeon  house, 
under  the  care  of  a  boy,  about  L.'s  age.  This  boy  must  I  think, 
be  also  an  invalid,  as  he  is  out  on  his  balcony,  as  much  as  I  am 
on  my  terrace.  He  has  built  a  range  of  very  amateur  buildings, 
and  is  feeding  and  petting  his  pigeons  all  day  long.  They  come 
at  his  call  from  all  surrounding  roofs,  and  yet  they  are  not  over 
fed  I  am  sure,  as  they  pick  up  the  .crumbs  I  scatter  for  them  the 
moment  my  back  is  turned.  On  another  balcony  is  a  complete 
kitchen,  with  ice-chest,  pantry,  and  everything  but  a  stove,  where 
a  family  of  children  are  coming  and  going  all  the  time.  If  I  had 
better  eyesight,  I  could  give  you  receipts  for  polenta  and  other 
Italian  delicacies.  More  romatic  are  the  many  plants  and  flowers 
that  cover  all  the  neighboring  terraces,  our  own  included.  Every 
house  has  its  sky-parlor,  with  roses  in  bloom,  orange  trees  in  tubs, 
and  oleanders  and  palms  towering  above.  If  we  were  certain  of 
remaining  here  I  should  buy  some  sweet-scented  plants  to  have 
the  pleasure  of  tending  them.  As  yet,  we  have  only  the  aloes, 


202  MEMOIR   OF 

which  are  very  stern.  The  flowers  in  the  street  are  very  cheap  and 
for  a  few  cents  the  girls  can  decorate  themselves  for  the  table 
d'hote.  About  fifty  people  sit  down  every  day,  of  all  nations 
and  tongues.  Swedes  are  opposite  to  us,  whose  language  I  do  not 
attempt.  Several  unattractive  English  families  have  evidently  the 
same  opinion  of  us ;  an  Italian  Duke  with  several  children  and 
some  sociable  Americans." 

"JAN.  8th,  '83. 

"  I  believe  I  wrote  you  of  the  cold  Dr.  Wharton  had  taken  at 
St.  John  Lateran.  This  developed  into  a  dysentery,  and  it  is  now 
two  weeks  since  he  has  left  his  room.  He  is  not  very  sick,  but 
afraid  to  go  out,  and  with  the  disease  sometimes  worse,  sometimes 
better.  The  Doctor  comes  every  day  and  gives  him  medicine,  and 
his  diet  has  to  be  very  careful,  but  it  is  very  depressing  to  us,  and 
not  at  all  what  we  expected  in  coming  abroad.  He  has  been  sick 
more  or  less,  ever  since  we  left  Germany,  and  I  attribute  it  to  the 
dreadful  weather  we  had  there,  when  he  could  get  but  little  exer 
cise,  and  to  the  unwholesome  food  everywhere.  Now  he  is  on  strict 
regimen,  with  only  arrow-root  and  beef  tea,  and  I  am  nursing  him, 
with  Rita's  help,  and  a  great  deal  of  consideration  from  the  Hotel, 
where  I  fear  they  are  only  too  accustomed  to  sickness.  He  has  got 
the  idea  that  Italy  does  not  agree  with  him,  and  as  soon  as  he  is 
better,  we  must  make  a  move  somewhere,  though  where  to  go,  I 
scarcely  know.  The  weather  has  been  lovely,  and  everything 
favorable  except  his  health.  I  go  out  but  little ;  once  for  a  walk 
on  Monte  Pincio,  and  once  to  St.  Peter's,  where  E.  and  I  enjoyed 
much  the  splendid  church,  with  its  monuments  to  the  past  glories 
of  the  Popedom.  It  is  in  much  better  condition  than  Avhen  I  was 
last  here.  The  mosaics  are  kept  clean  and  polished,  and  everything 
has  an  orderly  appearance.  The  King  (Humbert)  is  to  be  thanked 
for  all  the  added  neatness  of  Rome,  and  its  buildings.  Even  the 
streets  are  spruced  up,  and  have  not  the  evil  odour  they  once  had. 
His  Court  is  regularly  established  at  the  Quirinal,  and  we  often  see 
him  driving  on  the  Pincian.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Pope  says  he 
is  a  prisoner,  and  never  comes  out  of  the  Vatican.  The  girls  go 
somewhere  every  day.  The  palace  of  the  Caesars  interests  them 
greatly.  Much  has  been  excavated  lately  and  they  see  rooms  and 
frescoes  that  were  not  exposed  until  very  recently.  The  ground 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  203 

which  was  a  cabbage  garden  covers  buried  palaces,  and  new  treas 
ures  are  dug  up  daily.  E.  gets  photographs  of  these  interiors  and 
that  is,  so  far,  all  I  know  of  them. 

"  I  shall  be  sorry  to  leave  Rome.  Our  terrace  has  been  de 
lightful,  and  also  our  walks  on  the  Pincian,  since  Dr.  Wharton  has 
been  better.  The  smell  of  the  violets  on  its  slopes,  the  beautiful 
old  City  below  us,  with  its  entourage  of  hills  and  pines,  and  the 
green  Campagna  beyond  have  been  within  our  reach.  Once  we 
have  driven  to  the  Borghese  and  once  to  the  Colosseum,  where  it 
was  too  damp  to  linger.  We  have  seen,  in  the  distance,  most  of 
the  poor  old  venerable  temples  and  arches,  who  look  as  if  imploring 
oblivion  after  an  existence  prolonged  well-nigh  beyond  endurance. 
The  temple  of  Minerva,  especially,  seems  to  have  gone  down  on  its 
Jcnees  to  beg  to  be  covered  up  from  the  light  of  day.  The  temple 
of  Janus,  the  arches  of  Constantine  and  Titus,  and  the  Theatre  of 
Marcellus  have  all  been  seen  in  passing,  but  the  weather  has  not 
been  such  as  to  admit  of  our  remaining  long,  and  we  have  been 
satisfied  with  a  passing  glance.  We  shall  go  away  before  the 
Carnival,  as  it  is  all-important  to  get  our  invalid  strong  again. 
Naples,  we  have  given  up,  as  too  debilitating.  We  shall  go  to 
San  Remo,  on  the  Riviera,  which  we  hear  is  especially  bracing,  and 
I  don't  doubt  we  shall  enjoy  its  gardens  and  sea-breezes,  and  I  hope 
cheerful  society.  There  have  been  plenty  of  people  here,  but  not 
interesting  to  Dr.  Whartou.  Even  Dr.  K,  the  Am.  Clergyman, 
has  been  to  see  him  but  once,  as  Dr.  Wharton  was  too  sick  to 
return  his  visit." 

"  SAX  REMO,  Feb.  1st,  '83. 

"  Here  you  behold  a  new  heading  to  my  letters.     E wrote 

so  fully  a  day  or  two  since  that  I  postponed  my  letter  for  fear  of 
repeating  her  verbatim.  Our  leaving  Rome,  and  our  journey 
through  Pisa  to  Genoa,  has  already  been  described.  The  railroad 
to  Genoa  is  beside  the  sea,  and  Dr.  Wharton  seemed  to  improve  the 
moment  we  sniffed  the  sea-breeze.  He  was  so  well  when  we 
reached  Genoa  that  he  wanted  to  stay  several  days,  and  go  sight 
seeing,  but  I  begged  him  not  to  risk  another  attack  in  such  a  place 
as  Genoa,  especially  as  the  weather  was  very  cold.  We  spent  only 
one  day  there,  and  left  for  this  place  the  next.  The  road  is  beside 
the  sea  all  the  way,  and  would  be  beautiful  but  for  the  constant 


204  MEMOIR   OF 

tunnelling.  Wherever,  on  the  old  Corniche  road,  there  used  to  be 
a  slight  ascent,  there  is  now  a  tunnel,  so  that  many  persons  still  take 
the  old  carriage  road.  With  us,  however,  it  was  too  important 
to  get  to  the  end  of  our  journey,  and  although  we  did  not  leave 
Genoa  till  12  M.  we  were  very  glad  to  reach  San  Remo  by  7  P.M. 
This  is  a  most  lovely  spot,  and  I  can  scarcely  realize  that  wre  so 
lately  left  snow  at  Genoa.  Here  all  is  green,  and  tropical  plants 
are  all  around  us.  The  town  lies  on  the  slope  of  hills  that  shut 
out  everything  but  the  south,  where  is  the  sea,  and  these  hills 
retain  the  sun's  heat  from  day  to  day,  so  that  it  is  much  warmer 
than  in  the  same  latitude  on  the  other  side  of  the  hills.  Of  course 
you  know  this,  but  it  strikes  one  here  with  fresh  surprise.  Even 
at  Rome  we  had  cold  winds,  here  only  a  gentle  breeze  from  the  sea, 
without  which  exercise  would  not  be  agreeable.  Dr.  Wharton 
seems  delighted  with  it,  and  I  hope  we  shall  stay  some  time.  Our 
hotel  is  a  little  out  of  the  town,  high,  and  with  a  view  all  round 
of  the  sea ;  exquisite  gardens,  roses,  violets,  and  orange-blossoms 
all  about  us,  and  an  atmosphere  like  summer.  When  there  is  a 
chill  wind  or  cloudy 'day  the  habitues  of  the  house  apologize  for 
the  unusually  '  bad  weather.7  It  seems  to  me  like  Paradise.  It 
may  be  just  the  place  for  Dr.  Wharton  to  get  well  and  strong 
again.  He  is  so  fond  of  the  sea,  and  there  are  people  and  shops 
enough  to  make  it  entertaining.  We  hear  nothing  but  the  English 
tongue  on  all  sides,  and  English  hotels  line  the  way  for  over  three 
miles.  The  quaint  old  streets  of  the  town  proper  are  fall  of  curio 
sities,  a  peculiar  mixture  of  queer  and  ancient  articles  for  sale,  with 
a  most  common  and  modern  trickery  in  selling  them.  Dr.  Wharton 
is  very  full  of  shopping,  and  it  requires  all  my  persuasion  to  keep 
him  off  the  Sorrento  wood  and  Italian  jewelry.  I  wish  to  reserve 
our  resources  for  Paris.  But  it  is  delightful  to  see  him  again  taking 
an  interest  in  everything  and  enjoying  himself.  He  is  able  to 
walk  freely  everywhere,  and  it  is  a  happy  contrast  to  the  dark, 
damp,  streets  of  Rome,  where  every  step  was  fraught  with  danger, 
to  him  at  least.  There  are  some  people  in  the  house  who  promise 
to  be  companionable,  and  with  books  and  sketches,  and  the  inex 
haustible  wralks,  we  shall  find  it  very  endurable.  We  went  on 
Sunday  to  the  English  Church,  and  heard  the  usual  English  ser 
mon — very  good  in  matter,  but  delivered  with  a  dismal  drawl  !  I 
suppose  the  chaplains  at  these  places  are  generally  men  in  delicate 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  205 

health,  kept  alive  by  the  delicious  climate.  The  walks  and  gar 
dens  are  full  of  cripples  and  invalids,  and  even  the  well  people  get 

a  sort  of  hobbling  gait  from  sympathy After  a  while  we 

shall  make  some  excursions  to  the  neighboring  towns,  where,  I 
believe,  half  the  English  aristocracy  are  assembled,  but  now  wre  are 
glad  to  be  quiet." 

"SAN  REMO,  Feb.  15th. 

"  .  .  .  .  Dr.  Wharton  continues  to  show  wonderful  improvement, 
he  seems  as  well  as  ever,  enjoys  everything,  and  has  recovered  his 
spirits.  He  is  much  amused  with  the  people  in  the  house,  he  has 
a  book  on  hand,  of  course,  but  he  says  it  is  only  translating.  He 
is  a  great  favorite,  and  is  having,  I  am  happy  to  say,  quite  a  flirta 
tion  with  a  clever  English  lady,  who  lends  him  books  and  talks 
history  to  him.  There  is  a  dear  old  lady  up  stairs,  who  sends  for 
him  to  play  whist  in  the  evening — so  that  he  gets  on  very  well.  He 
walks  every  morning  to  the  town,  where  we  have  examined 
every  shop  ten  times  over.  Dr.  Wharton  buys  figs  and  chestnuts 
and  the  inevitable  flowers.  We  often  rest  on  the  way  to  look 
at  the  lovely  blue  sea,  with  its  points  of  sloping  coast,  covered 
with  towns  of  white  and  yellow  houses  and  basking  in  a  summer 
sun.  Near  at  hand  are  olive  yards  and  vineyards,  and  a  perfect 
redolence  of  violets  and  hyacinths  from  the  gardens  below.  I 
sometimes  feel  like  shaking  myself,  and  saying,  'Do  you  know  that 
you  are  having  June  in  February,  and  that  never  again  will  you  be  at 
such  a  season  in  such  a  spot  ?'  We  get  so  used  to  our  blessings, 
that  after  two  or  three  weeks  of  loitering  and  basking,  we  begin  to 
read  and  write  again  and  even  talk  of  the  sights  we  shall  see  in 
Paris,  and  the  shopping  we  shall  do  there " 

"  FEB.  25th. 

"  There  is  a  young  Scotch  gentleman  here,  who  told  me  his  left 
lung  was  consolidated,  and  that  he  never  expected  to  be  well  again. 
He  was  as  cheerful  as  if  he  had  spoken  of  some  approaching  hap 
piness,  so  I  suppose  that  he  is  fully  prepared.  That  is  the  comfort 
of  these  English  people ;  they  are  religious  by  heritage  and  educa 
tion  ;  they  never  dream  of  staying  away  from  church  on  Sunday, 
and  they  all  come  in  the  evening  to  sing  hymns.  One  man  whom 
I  thought  singularly  '  worldly/  came  in  to  ask  for  his  '  favorite' 
hymn,  and  another,  with  the  countenance  of  a  pirate,  we  discovered 


206  MEMOIK   OF 

to  be  a  leading  elder  in  the  Scotch  church  here.  So  you  see  we  are 
gradually  merging  into  intimacy  and  approbation.  I  think  our 
standing  has  greatly  increased  since  they  have  seen  Lord  Coleridge's 
seal  on  one  or  two  of  Dr.  Wharton's  letters ;  and  are  convinced 
now  that  we  are  first-class  people.  They  are  singularly  ignorant 
about  America,  and  will  ask  such  queer  questions  as — '  Where  is  the 
city  of  California  ?'  '  Don't  you  know  Mr.  Woods,  of  Missouri  ?'  as 
if  we  lived  next  door.  One  lady  asked  me  if  Washington  were  not 
on  the  Mississippi  ?  Still  they  are  very  friendly  and  pleasant,  and 
our  rooms  are  filled  with  visitors  every  day.  Sometimes  they  do 
not  quite  appreciate  the  sobriety  of  our  characters.  An  old  lady 
warned  me  against  gambling.  She  said,  '  Americans  are  so  inexpe 
rienced — they  are  carried  away  with  excitement P  Another,  a  gen 
tleman,  said,  '  I  never  play  at  Monte  Carlo — but  my  wife  does.  If 
she  loses  1000  francs,  she  stops,  but  I  feel  bound  to  make  it  up.' 
Here  was  a  real  live  gambler  !" 

Perhaps  the  writer  has  lingered  too  long  on  this  European  jour 
ney,  and  the  delightful  episode  of  San  Remo.  It  is,  however, 
almost  the  last  period  of  Dr.  Wharton's  history  that  she  can  look 
back  upon  with  entire  satisfaction.  Restored  to  health,  and  with 
a  mind  free  from  care,  he  was  for  the  remainder  of  the  trip  the  life 
and  soul  of  the  party.  After  a  devious,  though  pleasant,  route 
through  Northern  Italy  to  Turin,  and  a  short  stay  at  Aix  les 
Bains,  they  came  to  Paris  in  May.  From  thence  to  London,  and 
set  sail  from  Liverpool  on  May  19th.  As  he  himself  said,  "he 
must  be  at  Narragansett  in  time  to  dig  his  asparagus  bed."  The 
truth  is  he  was  tired  of  an  idle  life.  The  mere  travelling  did  not 
occupy  his  mind  sufficiently.  "  Get  work  to  do ;  it  is  better  than 
what  you  work  for,"  was  ever  his  motto,  or,  in  his  own  humorous 
and  highly  poetical  paraphrase,  Constant  employment  is  constant 
enjoyment. 

The  return  of  the  Democratic  party  to  power  in  1884  will  mark 
the  next  era  in  his  changing  career ;  a  career  I  hope,  it  will  be 
observed,  whose  changes  were  involuntary,  and  caused  by  events 
entirely  beyond  his  control.  He  had  spent  nearly  two  years  quietly 
in  Philadelphia,  fully  occupied  with  revising  his  now  numerous 
books,  and  had  certainly  no  idea  that  anything  further  awaited 
him,  when  some  intimations  reached  him  that  he  would  be  a  useful 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  207 

and  welcome  aid  to  the  new  Administration.  After  some  prelimi 
nary  correspondence,  the  following  letter  was  received  from  the 
Hon.  Thomas  F.  Bayard,  Secretary  of  State  : — 

"DEP'T  OF  STATE,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  March  16,  1885. 
"  MY  DEAR  DR.  WHARTON  : 

"  I  have  your  letter  written  yesterday,  and  write  to  ask  you  to 
come  on,  as  soon  as  possible.  You  will  go  into  service  as  soon  as 
you  come  here,  and  your  commission  will  follow  upon  the  expira 
tion  of  a  short  '  leave  of  absence/  granted  to  your  predecessor. 

"  I  believe  you  will  find  the  position  akin  to  your  powers  and 
your  tastes,  and  one  in  which  you  can  render  valuable  service  to 
your  country. 

"  Yrs.  truly, 

"T.  F.   BAYARD. 
"  Prof.  FRANCIS  WHARTON,  Phila." 

The  office  to  which  he  was  called  was  that  of  Examiner  of 
Claims,  or,  in  other  words,  Legal  Adviser  to  the  State  Department. 
It  was  not  without  misgivings  that  he  accepted  this  position.  Not 
that  he  felt  any  hesitation  about  his  ability  to  fulfil  its  duties.  He 
had  been  familiar  with  the  topics  he  would  have  to  handle  for 
years  ;  his  decisions  would  be  governed  by  the  result  of  many  years' 
study  of  the  very  topics  in  question,  and  his  studies  would  be 
stimulated  by  this  practical  application  of  them.  But  he  had  a 
reluctance  to  take  up  an  occupation  so  exclusively  secular.  Though 
debarred  by  the  state  of  his  voice  from  officiating  in  any  public 
service  in  the  Church,  he  had  never  lost  sight  of  his  sacred  calling, 
nor  were  the  vows  of  his  earlier  dedication  felt  to  be  less  binding. 
The  following  letter  from  a  beloved  friend,  although  written  after 
his  acceptance  of  the  office,  will  show  what  were  his  scruples  and 
in  what  way  his  advisers  tried  to  remove  them. 

"CLEVELAND,  OHIO. 
"  REV.  AND  DEAR  BROTHER  I 

'Your  gratifying  and  exceedingly  interesting  note  has  just 
reached  me,  on  my  return  from  visitation.  It  is  an  additional 
evidence  of  the  reality  of  your  friendship  that  you  have  taken  the 
trouble  to  mention  reasons  for  your  acceptance  of  the  present  re 
sponsible  position  you  hold  under  government;  but  believe  me, 
my  dear  old  friend,  that  no  question  has  ever  arisen  in  my  mind 
as  to  the  propriety^of  the  act.  I  have  rejoiced  that  the  opportu- 


208  MEMOIR   OF 

nity  was  thus  offered  you  to  serve  God  so  acceptably  in  an  office 
so  responsible,  and  I  have  rejoiced  with  our  mutual  friends  that 
our  country  was  so  ably  represented  by  a  member  of  our  Church. 
It  seems,  to  me,  at  least,  that  Divine  Providence  has  been  prepar 
ing  you  for  this  high  office,  and  by  your  peculiar  education  and 
experience — I  refer  especially  to  the  ecclesiastical  side  of  English 
polity — enabling  you  to  interpret  fully  the  mind  of  our  English 

cousins 

"  President  Cleveland's  choice  of  Mr.  Bayard  is  to  be  highly 
commended.  We  have  felt  that  our  foreign  relations  were  in  safe 

hands 

"  Believe  me  most  affectionately  your  friend  and  brother, 

"G.  T.  BEDELL, 

"(Bp.  of  Ohio). 
"REV.  DR.  WHARTON." 

After  some  further  deliberation  he  resolved  to  accept  the  office 
temporarily.  The  letter  in  which  he  signified  this  decision  to  Mr. 
Bayard  has  been  preserved. 

"No.  1820  PINK  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA. 

"  March  24,  '85. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  SECRETARY  : 

"  As  I  telegraphed  to  you  this  morning,  I  accept  the  proposition 
to  take  for  three  months  the  post  of  counsel  to  the  state  depart 
ment,  postponing  for  the  present  the  question  of  an  acceptance  of 
the  office  as  a  permanency.  After  leaving  you  I  met,  at  the  Su 
preme  Court,  my  old  friends  Mr.  George  W.  Biddle  and  Mr. 
Rawle,  who  both  advised  me  strongly  to  take  the  office,  as  one 
for  which  I  was  more  or  less  fitted  by  my  old  training  as  district 
attorney,  and  subsequent  experience  as  writer  on  and  professor  of 
international  law.  This  morning  I  have  seen  my  publisher,  and 
looked  over  business  matters,  and  find  that  there  is  nothing  to 
prevent  my  entering  on  the  work  at  Washington  as  soon  as  re 
quired.  My  present  intention  is  to  take  lodgings  until  the  ques 
tion  of  permanent  acceptance  is  decided,  and  then  if  this  be  deter 
mined  on,  to  take  a  house.  I  would  add  that  I  would  feel  bound 
in  any  view  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office  until  you  found 
a  successor  satisfactory  to  yourself. 

"  Truly  y'rs, 

"FRANCIS  WHARTON. 
"Hox.  T.  F.  BAYARD." 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  209 

Upon  removing  to  Washington,  Dr.  Wharton  found  his  hands 
full.  Not  only  did  he  find  the  work  at  the  Department  of  State 
exceedingly  interesting  and  congenial,  but  he  was  received  with 
much  flattering  attention  by  the  various  social  circles  of  that  bril 
liant  city.  Well  known  to  the  larger  part  of  the  employe's  of  the 
government  by  his  books,  they  were  now  glad  to  make  his  acquaint 
ance  personally.  His  nomination  by  President  Cleveland  was  con 
firmed  unanimously  by  the  Senate  with,  in  one  instance,  the  signifi 
cant  remark  :  "  I  should  as  soon  think  of  objecting  to  Chief  Justice 
Marshall." 

This  was  the  bright  side  of  the  picture.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
constant  pressure  and  responsibility  ;  the  not  too  healthy  climate  of 
Washington  ;  and,  above  all,  the  giving  up  of  his  summers  at  Nar- 
ragansett  Pier,  presented  a  prospect  that  might  have  discouraging 
possibilities. 

The  impression  that  he  made  during  the  four  years  of  his  politi 
cal  life  must  be  left  to  another  to  describe.  The  men  and  the 
measures  of  that  administration  are  almost  too  recent  to  be  written 
about  freely.  The  same  thing  applies  to  his  correspondence,  which, 
though  large  and  including  some  very  distinguished  names,  is  yet 
too  full  of  the  local  and  personal  to  be  within  the  scope  of  the 
present  volume.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  labor  of  these  last 
years  of  his  life  seems  to  have  exceeded  that  of  all  previous  years, 
and  that  the  loving  and  devout  spirit  that  he  had  manifested  in 
earlier  and  less  trying  positions  never  deserted  him.  He  attended 
with  regularity  the  Church  of  the  Ascension,  and  much  enjoyed 
the  ministrations  of  the  faithful  rector,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Elliott.  Often 
upon  returning  from  these  services,  in  which  he  never  took  part 
except  as  a  worshipper,  he  would  say  :  "  How  I  have  enjoyed  the 
sermon  !  There  is  nothing  like  the  good  old  gospel,  after  all." 

There  must  always  be,'  in  the  government  of  a  'great  nation, 
times  when  a  just  and  proper  exercise  of  control  will  excite  the 
opposition  of  those  controlled;  and  the  four  years'  term  of  our 
executive  will  always  pr^oke  agitation  and  party  strife.  But  in 
political  parties  and  angry  contests  Dr.  Wharton  took  no  interest. 
Though  he  considered  himself  identified  with  certain  great  prin 
ciples  held  by  his  party,  he  never  was  betrayed  by  discussion  of 
them  into  want  of  consideration  for  others.  Many  of  his  warmest 
14 


210  MEMOIR   OF 

friends  were  his  political  opponents,  and  he  was  ever  the  recipient 
personally  of  affection  and  confidence,  both  from  those  who  agreed 
with  him  and  those  from  whom  he  differed. 

Among  the  letters  and  memoranda  he  left  behind  him  much  may 
yet  be  found  that  would  interest  the  reader,  but  it  must  be  at  a  later 
date,  and  transcribed  by  another  hand. 


DE.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  211 


CHAPTER    X. 

"LlFE    AT   THE   DEPARTMENT   OF   STATE. 

BY 

HON.  JOHN  BASSETT  MOORE, 
Third  Assistant  Secretary  of  State. 

EARLY  in  the  year  1885  Dr.  Wharton  was  invited  to  take  the 
post  of  Examiner  of  Claims  or  Solicitor  for  the  Department  of 
State,  at  Washington.  After  due  reflection  he  accepted  the  posi 
tion,  and  late  in  March  entered  upon  the  performance  of  its  duties. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  greater  fitness  of  person  for 
place  than  that  of  Dr.  Wharton  for  the  office  to  which  he  was 
called.  Although  he  left  the  bar  for  the  church  early  in  life,  the 
impress  of  his  legal  training  remained,  and  his  predilection  for  the 
law  never  forsook  him.  Whatever  might  be  the  subject  that  occu 
pied  his  attention,  it  was  to  its  legal  aspects  that  he  was  especially 
attracted.  His  mind  was  singularly  versatile,  and  his  sympathies 
were  broad  and  easily  touched.  He  possessed,  besides,  a  strong 
vein  of  sentiment,  which  not  infrequently  had  a  controlling  effect 
upon  his  conduct.  He  was  fond  of  poetry,  and  sought  diversion 
and  recreation  in  works  of  fiction.  Endowed  with  such  generous 
tastes  and  faculties,  technical  disputations  were  little  to  his  liking. 
The  narrow  view  of  a  question  never  appealed  to  him.  It  was  in 
the  discussion  and  application  of  broad  and  general  principles  that 
he  found  his  greatest  delight ;  and  it  was  in  the  natural  develop 
ment  of  this  liberal  disposition  that  the  lawyer  became  the  eminent 
and  accomplished  student  of  jurisprudence. 

In  addition  to  his  knowledge  of  law,  Dr.  Wharton  possessed  a 
thorough  acquaintance  with  history.  He  was  accustomed  to  say 
that  Englishmen  knew  less  than  Americans  of  English  history, 
and  if  he  was  to  be  taken  as  an  example  of  his  countrymen  his 
observation  was  certainly  correct.  His  knowledge  of  Ihe  history 
of  England  was  singularly  thorough  and  minute.  It  was  not  con 
fined  to  the  general  and  leading  incidents  which  are  stated  in  the 


212  MEMOIR   OF 

formal  histories,  but  extended  to  the  lives,  the  letters,  and  the 
minor  accounts  of  men  and  women.  With  the  exception  of  the 
history  of  the  United  States,  he  knew  more  thoroughly  that  of 
England  than  of  any  other  country ;  but  he  was  also  a  diligent 
student  of  history,  both  ancient  and  modern,  in  the  most  general 
sense.  What  he  read  he  was  enabled  to  retain  by  the  possession  of 
an  unusual  memory.  He  made  few  notes  and  kept  no  common 
place  books,  and  did  not  burden  his  mind  with  useless  dates  and 
facts.  His  memory  was  philosophical  rather  than  circumstantial. 
If  questioned  in  respect  to  a  particular  circumstance,  he  often  ex 
pressed  an  inability  to  answer.  But,  if  called  upon  to  consider  a 
particular  subject,  he  was  able,  with  a  rapidity  and  completeness 
seldom  witnessed,  to  draw  from  the  stores  of  his  memory  a  copious 
supply  of  historical  illustrations  and  analogies. 

The  labors  of  Dr.  Wharton  in  history  and  jurisprudence,  and 
his  fondness  for  the  discussion  of  general  principles,  led  him  to  the 
study  of  international  law,  and  prepared  the  way  for  his  eminence 
as  a  publicist.  His  first  important  achievement  in  this  field  is 
found  in  his  treatise  on  the  '  Conflict  of  Laws/  or  '  Private  Inter 
national  Law/  which  includes  a  comparative  view  of  Anglo- 
American,  Roman,  German,  and  French  jurisprudence.  Con 
cerning  this  work,  an  intelligent  and  discriminating  critic  in  the 
i  Southern  Law  Review'  expressed  the  opinion  that  upon  it  would 
rest  its  author's  most  lasting  and  solid  fame.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  Dr.  Wharton  shared  this  opinion,  for  he  took  an 
evident  pride  in  the  book  and  often  referred  to  the  criticism  in 
the  t  Southern  Law  Review'  as  one  of  the  most  appreciative  and 
satisfactory  ever  written  upon  any  of  his  works.  In  1885  appeared 
his  ' Commentaries  on  Law/  which  embrace  chapters  on  Inter 
national  Law,  both  public  and  private. 

Such  was  the  preparation  of  Dr.  Wharton  for  the  discharge  of 
his  new  duties.  Learned  both  in  history  and  in  jurisprudence, 
and  with  a  wide  and  established  reputation  as  a  publicist,  he  was 
able  to  speak  as  one  having  authority.  He  was  not  compelled  to 
search  for  principles  and  precedents ;  he  had  already  reduced  them 
to  possession,  and  it  was  only  necessary  for  him  to  apply  them. 
The  value  of  such  a  preparation  can  be  estimated  only  when  we 
consider  the  distinctive  character  of  international  law  as  a  branch 
of  jurisprudence.  The  average  practitioner,  trained  in  the  strict 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  213 

school  of  the  common  law  and  accustomed  to  the  technical  dispu 
tations  of  the  ordinary  judicial  courts,  finds  himself,  when  called 
upon  to  deal  with  matters  involving  international  law,  confronted 
with  a  new  type  of  questions  in  the  solution  of  which  his  previous 
education  affords  him  little  assistance.  In  reality  one  of  his  first 
tasks  will  be  to  rid  his  mind,  so  far  as  he  may  be  able,  of  its  pre 
possession  fqr  technical  reasoning.  The  books  which  he  has  been 
accustomed  to  consult,  with  a  view  to  obtain  a  "  case  in  point/' 
can  no  longer  be  accepted  as  guides.  Even  if  he  should  find  in 
the  courts  of  his  own  country  a  decision  upon  the  question  which 
he  has  under  consideration,  he  would  then  be  required  to  ascertain 
whether  that  decision  had  been  accepted  as  being  in  accordance 
with  the  principles  of  international  law ;  for  in  such  matters  one 
nation  is  not  bound  to  accept  as  conclusive  the  decisions  of  the 
courts  of  another.  He  would  then  find  it  necessary  to  embark 
upon  the  study  of  history  and  the  works  of  publicists,  and  to 
apply  with  such  guides  the  principles  of  reason  and  justice. 
Although  in  this  department  of  investigation  and  study  the 
United  States  can  claim  such  distinguished  names  as  those  of 
Wheaton,  Story,  Kent,  Lawrence,  Field,  and  Wharton,  the  study 
of  international  law  has  for  the  most  part  been  much  neglected 
in  this  country.  When  the  subject  is  taught  in  the  schools,  the 
course  of  instruction  is  usually  confined  to  a  few  lectures  of  a  more 
or  less  perfunctory  character,  and  perhaps  to  a  few  lessons  from 
text-books  which  deal  with  the  most  elementary  doctrines.  No 
attempt  is  made  to  trace  the  history  of  the  subject,  and  the 
remarkable  contribution  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
to  its  progressive  development  is  almost  wholly  overlooked.  A 
gentleman  lately  in  the  diplomatic  service  of  the  United  States 
recently  told  the  writer  that  one  of  the  most  distinguished  publicists 
of  Europe  declared  to  him  that  he  found  more  to  interest  and  in 
struct  him  in  the  annual  volume  of  the  Foreign  Relations  of  the 
United  States  than  in  any  other  current  publication  on  interna 
tional  subjects.  This,  he  said,  was  due  to  the  freedom  and  origi 
nality  with  which  questions  were  treated  ;  a  circumstance  in  large 
measure  attributable  to  the  unique  position  of  the  United  States 
in  the  family  of  nations. 

Dr.  Wharton  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  in  the 
Department  of  State  with  all  his  accustomed  energy  and  enthu- 


214  MEMOIR   OF 

siasm,  and  for  a  time  found  ample  occupation  in  the  daily  work  of  his 
office.  Coming  into  the  place  soon  after  a  change  of  administration, 
he  was  required  to  give  opinions  upon  a  large  number  of  complaints 
which  had  in  the  interval  been  submitted  to  the  Department  with 
a  viewr  to  their  diplomatic  presentation  to  foreign  governments. 
This  influx  of  claims  attends  every  change  of  administration  with 
out  reference  to  its  political  character.  The  principle  of  resjudi- 
cata,  though  not  infrequently  invoked,  is  not  applied  with  the  same 
strictness  in  the  executive  departments  as  in  the  courts ;  and  each 
suitor  whose  claim  may  have  been  the  subject  of  an  adverse  de 
cision  finds  room  to  hope  that  in  the  change  of  the  head  of  the 
department  his  complaint  may  receive  favorable  consideration.  In 
the  first  year  of  his  official  life,  Dr.  "Wharton  gave  formal  written 
opinions  upon  221  claims,  involving  various  questions  of  law. 
But  his  labors  were  not  in  the  meantime  restricted  to  the  exami 
nation  of  claims.  Questions  of  international  policy  were  also  the 
subject  of  his  consideration.  In  the  spring  of  1885  the  Colom 
bian  Government,  with  a  view  to  suppress  an  insurrection  which 
had  arisen  in  that  country,  issued  two  decrees  of  great  importance 
to  foreign  nations.  By  the  first  of  these  decrees,  certain  ports  then 
in  the  possession  of  the  insurgents  were  declared  to  be  closed  to 
foreign  commerce;  and  the  penalties  and  forfeitures  affixed  by 
Colombian  law  to  smuggling  were  denounced  against  the  goods 
which  might  be  imported  into  or  exported  from  those  ports,  and 
against  the  vessels  which  might  engage  in  trade  with  them.  By 
the  second  decree  it  was  declared  that  the  vessels  which,  under  the 
flag  of  Colombia,  were  then  employed  by  the  insurgents  in  hostile 
operations  against  the  port  of  Cartagena,  to  the  detriment  of 
foreign  commerce  with  that  port,  did  not  belong  to  the  Colombian 
Government  and  had  no  right  to  fly  the  Colombian  flag ;  and  for 
these  reasons  they  were  declared  to  be  beyond  the  pale  of  interna 
tional  law  and  their  repression  by  the  armed  forces  of  friendly 
powers  was  invited.  These  decrees  raised  two  questions  on  which 
Dr.  Wharton  always  held  and  expressed  very  decided  views, — the 
rights  of  neutrals  and  the  international  status  of  insurgents.  The 
United  States  refused  to  treat  the  decrees  as  sustainable  on  principles 
of  international  law.  The  right  of  a  government  to  close,  by  a 
decree,  ports  not  in  its  possession  and  not  actually  blockaded,  was 
denied.  At  the  same  time  the  Colombian  Minister  was  informed 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  215 

that  the  United  States  would  not  treat  the  vessels  of  the  insurgents 
as  pirates.  It  is  not  improper  to  say  that  Dr.  Wharton  materially 
contributed,  by  his  learning  and  skill,  to  the  argument  made  by 
the  United  States  on  that  occasion. 

Before  the  close  of  his  first  year  in  the  Department  of  State, 
Dr.  Wharton  began  the  compilation  of  a  digest  of  the  opinions 
and  decisions  of  executive  and  judicial  officers  of  the  United  States 
on  questions  of  International  Law,  with  legal  and  historical  notes. 
The  work  being  too  large  and  scarcely  popular  enough  in  character 
to  be  undertaken  by  a  private  publisher,  its  printing  was  provided 
for  by  a  resolution  of  Congress.  An  intelligent  critic  has  recently 
observed,  that  if  Dr.  Wharton  had  done  nothing  else  during  his 
industrious  life  for  the  science  of  jurisprudence,  the  'International 
Law  Digest'  would,  quite  apart  from  his  labors  in  the  field  of 
criminal  law  and  of  the  conflict  of  laws,  be  his  enduring  monu 
ment.  Such  defects  as  the  work  possesses  are  inherent  in  its 
character.  It  was  drawn  not  only  from  published  documents,  but 
also  from  the  unpublished  records  of  the  Department  of  State,  begin 
ning  at  the  origin  of  the  Government.  In  dealing  with  the  latter 
it  was  necessary,  owing  to  the  number  of  subjects  treated  and  the 
voluminous  character  of  the  discussions,  to  omit  a  great  deal,' and 
to  select  such  parts  as  were  deemed  illustrative  of  the  doctrines 
most  consistently  maintained.  Such  a  process  of  selection  neces 
sarily  reflects  in  some  degree  an  editor's  personal  bias.  But  the 
'  International  Law  Digest'  remains  a  monument  to  its  compiler's 
learning  and  industry,  and  is  full  of  interest  and  instruction.  The 
first  edition  was  soon  distributed,  and  in  1887,  by  direction  of 
Congress,  a  second  edition  was  printed. 

After  the  publication  of  this  work,  Dr.  Wharton  undertook  the 
labor  of  editing  the  '  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  American 
Revolution.'  Provision  for  printing  was  again  made  by  Congress, 
and  he  worked  at  his  new  task  incessantly  up  to  the  date  of  his 
death.  Only  a  few  days  before  that  event,  he  received  and  cor 
rected  the  last  proofs  of  the  first  volume,  .which  contains  historical 
and  legal  notes  in  the  form  of  an  introduction  to  the  correspond 
ence.  The  latter  he  left  in  manuscript  in  the  hands  of  the  writer, 
as  his  literary  executor,  to  whom  Congress  has  given  authority  to 
continue  the  printing. 

This  brief  outline  of  the  life  of  Dr.  Wharton  during  the  period 


216  MEMOIR   OF 

of  less  than  four  years  which  he  spent  in  the  Department  of  State, 
presents  a  record  of  unusual  character.  The  activity  of  his  mind 
was  incessant,  and  he  wrote  with  rapidity ;  but,  with  all  his  learn 
ing  and  all  his  facility,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  accom 
plish,  in  the  short  space  of  four  years  the  immense  and  varied 
tasks  he  undertook,  if,  in  addition  to  his  other  qualities,  he  had  not 
possessed  that  of  untiring  industry.  "  Dogged  industry"  was  the 
term  which  he  liked  to  apply  to  his  habit  of  labor.  His  capacity 
for  work  seemed  to  be  almost  unlimited,  and  he  was  never  idle. 
He  rose  early  in  the  morning,  usually  before  six  o'clock,  and  im 
mediately  resumed  his  tasks.  His  labors  the  days  could  not  be 
said  to  divide  ;  for  he  gave  few  hours  to  sleep,  seldom  more  than 
five,  and  often  less,  and  the  first  hours  of  the  morning  generally 
found  him  still  at  work.  Sometimes  he  went  out  early  to  walk,  in 
order  to  refresh  himself  for  the  day's  labor ;  and  this  was  about 
the  only  physical  exercise  he  took.  He  usually  reached  his  office 
before  nine  o'clock,  and  he  then  worked  through  the  day  without 
intermission.  He  not  only  worked  constantly,  but  also  eagerly,  in 
order  to  accomplish  as  soon  as  possible  the  task  he  had  set.  He 
possessed  in  the  highest  degree  vivacity  of  intellect.  This  quality 
imparted  to  the  severest  labor  keen  and  apparent  pleasure,  and  con 
tributed  to  sustain  his  exertions.  He  was  also  able  to  perceive  at 
a  glance  any  pertinency  in  what  he  read  to  the  subject  under  con- 
sideration.  In  this  way  he  was  able  to  read  with  great  rapidity. 
He  possessed  little  fondness  for  books,  for  their  own  sake.  They 
were  merely  his  instruments.  He  valued  them  solely  for  what  he 
could  obtain  from  them,  and,  after  extracting  what  suited  his  pur 
pose,  put  them  aside.  He  was  not  what  we  style  a  book-lover. 
Hence,  as  he  lived  fur  the  most  part  in  close  proximity  to  large 
public  libraries,  he  collected  few  books,  and  his  private  library, 
which  was  comparatively  small,  was  not  selected  with  reference  to 
his  work.  His  quickness  of  perception  and  his  ability  to  appreciate 
at  its  relative  value  whatever  came  under  his  notice,  enabled  him  to 
employ  with  unusual  ease  the  labors  of  others.  Moreover,  he 
understood  so  thoroughly  and  so  comprehensively  the  subjects  on 
which  he  wrote,  that,  in  directing  and  utilizing  the  labors  of  others, 
he  was  able  to  give  to  each  thing  its  proper  place  and  its  appropri 
ate  effect.  Thus  he  was  not  compelled  to  complete  one  branch  of 
an  argument  before  he  proceeded  to  another.  Keeping  the  whole 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  217 

in  his  mind,  he  was  able  to  pass  from  one  part  to  another,  and, 
where  vacant  places  were  left,  to  fill  them  up  as  his  collection  of 
materials  was  completed. 

Dr.  Wharton's  capacity  for  productive  labor  cannot  be  more 
forcibly  shown  than  by  an  enumeration  of  his  principal  works. 
His  first  reputation  as  a  legal  author  was  made  by  his  writings  on 
criminal  l$w.  His  works  on  this  subject  are  four  in  number,  and 
comprise  treatises  on  '  Criminal  Law,'  '  Criminal  Pleading  and 
Practice/  and  '  Criminal  Evidence/  and  two  volumes  of 'Pre 
cedents  of  Indictments  and  Pleas.'  The  treatise  on  '  Criminal 
Law'  embraces  two  volumes,  and  is  now  in  its  ninth  edition;  that 
on  '  Criminal  Pleading  and  Practice/  in  one  volume,  has  passed 
through  an  equal  number  of  editions;  that  on  'Criminal  Evi 
dence/  is  in  two  volumes,  and  is  also  in  its  ninth  edition.  The 
'Precedents  of  Indictments  and  Pleas'  is  in  two  volumes,  and  has 
reached  a  fourth  edition.  In  conjunction  with  Dr.  Stille  he  wrote 
a  work  on  'Medical  Jurisprudence/  which  is  also  in  its  fourth 
edition.  He  next  wrote  a  commentary  on  'Agency  and  Agents/ 
in  one  volume ;  then  a  treatise  on  the  '  Law  of  Negligence/  which 
is  also  in  one  volume,  and  has  reached  a  second  edition.  Follow 
ing  these  came  his  work  on  the  '  Conflict  of  Laws/  also  in  its 
second  edition  ;  a  commentary  on  the  '  Law  of  Evidence/  in  two 
volumes,  now  in  its  third  edition;  a  work  on  'Contracts/  in  two 
volumes ;  and  '  Commentaries  on  American  Law/  in  one  volume. 
Besides  these  practical  treatises,  he  published  a  volume  of  'State 
Trials/  a  work  full  of  historical  interest,  with  notes  written  in  a 
peculiarly  charming  style,  which  appeared  in  1849,  when  the  author 
was  twenty-nine  years  of  age.  The  '  International  Law  Digest/  to 
which  reference  has  already  been  made,  comprises  three  volumes, 
and  the  'Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  Revolution/  is  yet  to 
appear.  In  order  to  appreciate  the  extraordinary  facility  with 
which  this  large  number  of  voluminous  works  was  written,  it  must 
be  recollected  that  for  some  years  his  labors  as  a  writer  of  treatises 
on  law  were  suspended,  and  that  all  through  his  life  he  was  a  con 
stant  contributor  to  periodicals. 

An  attempt  having  been  made  to  describe  and  explain,  in  a 
general  way,  the  extent  of  Dr.  Wharton's  achievements  as  a  pub 
licist,  it  will  be  interesting  to  consider  more  in  detail  the  qualities 
of  his  mind,  his  habits  of  thought,  and  the  distinguishing  traits 


218  MEMOIR   OF 

of  his  character.  Such  a  combination  of  faculties  as  he  possessed 
is  seldom  witnessed;  and  it  was  only  after  seeing  him  at  his 
daily  tasks  that  one  could  appreciate  the  richness  and  variety  of 
his  mental  endowments.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the 
quickness  and  breadth  of  his  comprehension,  to  his  capacity  for 
labor,  and  to  the  exceptional  character  of  his  memory.  It  is  only 
by  this  combination  of  faculties  that  we  can  account  for  the  extent 
of  his  acquisitions.  No  industry,  however  constant,  could  have 
enabled  him  to  accomplish  so  much,  if  he  had  not  possessed  extra 
ordinary  mental  powers.  His  works  show  the  extent  of  his  erudi 
tion.  It  was  in  his  treatise  on  the  i  Conflict  of  Laws,'  or  Private 
International  Law,  that  he  attempted  to  cover  the  widest  field  of 
legal  investigation.  If  his  acquirements  had  been  wanting  either 
in  thoroughness  or  in  amplitude,  the  defect  would  then  have  been 
revealed.  But  none  of  his  works  was  ever  received  with  more 
instant  recognition  or  with  higher  approval,  not  only  by  the  public 
but  also  by  scholars  and  jurists.  It  did  more  than  any  other  of 
his  publications  to  extend  his  reputation  abroad,  and  no  doubt 
materially  contributed  to  form  that  high  estimate  of  his  learning 
and  abilities  which  induced  the  University  of  Edinburgh  to  confer 
upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  and  the  Institute  of  Inter- 
*  national  Law  to  enroll  him  as  one  of  its  members.  For,  when 
those  honors  were  conferred  upon  him,  the  ( International  Law 
Digest7  had  not  been  written. 

Dr.  Wharton  also  possessed  powers  of  imagination  of  a  high 
order.  It  is  this  that  distinguishes  the  narrow  logician  from  the 
creative  thinker.  Voltaire  said  of  Dr.  Clark,  that  he  was  a  mere 
reasoning  machine.  This  could  never  have  been  said  of  Dr.  AVhar- 
ton.  He  did  not,  indeed,  possess  that  highest  type  of  imagination, 
which  has  enabled  a  few  men  in  different  ages  to  create  distinctive 
systems  of  thought,  and  to  connect  their  names  with  new  social, 
political,  or  legal  theories.  He  made  no  profession  of  originality 
in  this  rare  sense.  He  was  always  ready  to  avow  his  obligations 
to  others,  and  was  wont  to  disclaim  any  originality  of  thought.  He 
declared  himself  to  be  especially  indebted  to  German  writers,  whose 
language  he  understood  and  whose  works  he  carefully  studied.  But 
he  was  never  the  victim  of  logic.  He  sought  to  discover  and  apply 
principles,  and  not  merely  to  find  reasons  to  justify  other  men's 
conclusions.  He  studied  and  comprehended  questions  in  their 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  219 

wider  relations,  and  not  singly  and  apart.  He  was  especially  quick 
to  perceive  analogies,  and  reasoned  much  in  that  way.  This  im 
parted  to  his  discussion  of  various  topics  unusual  breadth  and  sug- 
gestiveuess,  and  exceptional  harmoniousness  of  view. 

With  his  great  fondness  for  history,  and  his  extensive  learning, 
it  is  not  strange  that  Dr.  Wharton  should  have  dealt  much  in  pre 
cedents  ;  but  he  was  never  the  slave  of  authority.  Stare  decisis 
was  not  a  rule  whose  limitative  force  he  felt  himself  bound  to  ac 
knowledge.  "  So  it  hath  been  decided'7  was  not  enough  to  silence 
his  objections.  That  he  diligently  searched  the  books  for  opinions 
and  precedents,  in  order  to  ascertain  what  had  been  determined,  the 
wealth  of  his  citations  amply  shows.  He  always  knew  the  latest 
cases.  But  he  never  held  himself  to  be  precluded  from  criticising 
and  disapproving  what  he  cited,  no  matter  how  high  the  tribunal 
from  which  the  expression  came. 

Though  Dr.  Wharton  often  dissented  from  the  authorities  he  cited, 
his  opposition  was  never  factious,  nor  the  result  of  a  fondness  for 
disputation.  Controversies  of  a  personal  character  he  sedulously 
avoided,  esteeming  it  a  sign  of  weakness  rather  than  of  strength  to 
seek  to  win  a  cause  by  abuse  of  an  adversary.  Where  he  found 
himself  in  opposition  to  the  courts,  it  was  because  their  action  did 
not  square  with  what  he  believed  to  be  the  reason,  the  justice,  and 
the  philosophy  of  the  matter.  When  of  this  conviction,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  dissent  and  protest.  The  amplitude  of  his  comprehen 
sion  enabled  him  to  work  out  a  system  of  principles  in  law,  politics, 
and  theology,  with  singular  clearness  and  consistency.  To  those 
principles  he  was  devotedly  attached ;  and  he  was  always  ready  to 
maintain  them.  The  basal  principle  of  his  system  was  that  of 
liberty,  and  it  gave  color  and  direction  to  all  his  thoughts.  There 
was  nothing  that  appealed  to  him  so  strongly  as  the  efforts  of  men 
and  of  nations  to  work  out  the  problem  of  self-government.  He 
never  could  forget  that  it  was  by  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  revo 
lution  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  attained  their  independ 
ence,  and  assumed  a  place  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The 
annals  of  our  early  history,  the  struggles,  the  vicissitudes,  and  the 
triumphs  of  the  makers  of  the  Republic  were  always  the  subjects 
of  his  especial  study  and  admiration  ;  and  to  the  exposition  of  the 
events  of  that  period,  and  of  the  causes  and  course  of  the  conflict, 
he  devoted  the  last  hours  of  his  life.  It  is  often  mentioned  as  the 


220  MEMOIR   OF 

reproach  of  scholars  and  men  of  letters  that  in  the  contemplation 
of  abstract  themes  they  lose  sight  of  and  cease  to  appreciate  the 
generous  motives  which  operate  upon  the  conduct  of  peoples  in 
their  struggles  for  freedom.  In  the  critical  study  of  the  acts  and 
character  of  individuals,  they  become  oblivious  of  their  sacrifices 
and  patriotic  exertions.  It  was  not  so  with  Dr.  Wharton.  He 
had  no  sympathy  with  that  spirit  of  detraction  which  seeks  to  be 
little  the  beginnings  of  American  history.  He  was  intensely 
patriotic  and  intensely  American.  It  was  his  especial  delight  to 
dwell  upon  the  simple  life  and  the  simple  manners  of  our  Revolu 
tionary  period.  He  was  beyond  that  narrow  conception  which 
confounds  simplicity  with  barbarism.  It  is  the  tendency  of  society 
in  every  age  to  consider  itself  as  the  best  exponent  of  civilization, 
and  to  regard  its  forms  and  ceremonies  as  the  embodiment  and 
the  test  of  progress  and  refinement.  This  delusion  Dr.  Wharton 
did  not  share.  He  was  sensitive  to  the  conventionalities  of  life,  but 
he  was  able  to  look  beneath  its  shows  and  ostentation,  and  estimate 
its  purpose  and  value.  He  felt  contempt  for  ignorance,  and  de 
tested  bad  manners,  and  neither  pretence  nor  display  could  conceal 
them  from  him,  or  shield  them  from  the  shafts  of  his  ridicule.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  thought  that  simplicity  of  life  imparted  dignity 
to  character,  and  enhanced  the  effect  of  greatness. 

It  has  already  been  observed  that  the  fundamental  principle  of 
Dr.  Wharton's  system  of  thought  was  liberty.  He  advocated  this 
principle  as  the  beneficent  source  of  all  true  progress.  He  believed 
in  free  thought,  free  government,  and  free  seas.  His  views  on  all. 
these  subjects  are  fully  expounded  in  his  '  Commentaries  on  Law.' 
In  law,  as  governing  individual  action,  he  belonged  to  what  he 
termed  the  progressive  division  of  the  historical  school,  "  holding 
that  the  law  of  a  nation  is  the  product  of  its  conscience  and  need  at 
each  particular  era/'  He  was  equally  opposed  to  the  analytical 
school,  of  which  Bentham  and  Austin  are  the  chief  exponents, 
which  looks  to  the  final  settlement  of  law  by  a  code  founded  upon 
the  doctrines  of  utility  ;  and  to  the  theocratic  school,  which  claims 
for  its  rules  jure  divino  sanction.  In  opposition  to  these  theories 
he  accepted  the  arguments  of  Hooker  in  his  great  work  on  ( Eccles 
iastical  Polity.'  This  work,  as  Dr.  Wharton  observed,  is  unfortu 
nately  chiefly  known  by  a  single  passage  containing  a  sonorous 
eulogium  on  law.  Almost  the  only  point  on  which  he  agreed  with 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  221 

Austin  was  in  thinking  that  this  passage  is  somewhat  rhetorical. 
Dr.  Wharton  was  accustomed  to  say  that  it  was  the  least  valuable 
sentence  in  the  wonderful  production,  in  which  it  is  found.  Ac 
cording  to  Hooker,  divine  law,  when  applied  to  men  in  their 
mutable  relations,  and  not  definitive  of  dogmatic  theology,  is  also 
mutable.  Much  more  so,  then,  must  this  be  true  of  human  law, 
which  is  necessarily  formulated  for  the  government  of  men  under 
particular  conditions.  Referring  in  his  '  Commentaries  on  Law'  to 
Hooker's  argument  against  the  theocratic  views  of  the  extreme 
Puritans,  Dr.  Wharton  says  :  "  Two  paints  were  taken  in  the  reply 
of  this  illustrious  thinker,  points  equally  fatal  to  any  system  of 
absolute  law.  (a)  Reason  and  revelation,  he  maintained,  including 
in  revelation  whatever  law  claims  jure  divino  sanction,  have  co 
ordinate  authority  ;  reason  has  to  verify  the  credentials  of  revelation, 
then  to  define  its  meaning,  then  to  determine  its  applicability, 
(b)  Whatever  concerns  man  in  his  mutable  relations  must  of  itself 
l)e  mutable ;  the  boat  tosses  with  the  wave  on  which  it  reposes,  the 
plaster  takes  the  mould  of  the  face  on  which  it  is  impressed." 
These  views,  which  are  practicable  only  when  reason  is  left  free, 
Dr.  Wharton  fully  adopted. 

But  in  order  that  men  may  be  able  to  work  out  their  destiny  in 
accordance  with  the  dictates  of  reason,  there  must  be  free  govern 
ment.  On  this  ground  Dr.  Wharton  advocated  the  widest  liberty 
of  individual  action  compatible  with  social  order.  Law  must,  he 
held,  in  order  to  be  effective,  be  the  emanation  of  the  conscience 
and  needs  of  the  people ;  but  he  also  maintained  that  it  should 
impose  as  little  restraint  as  possible  upon  the  freedom  of  action  of 
the  individual.  He  was  a  disciple  of  Jefferson,  and  fully  accepted 
the  doctrine  of  laisser  faire.  He  rejected  the  notion  that  a  majority 
of  the  people,  because  they  possess  the  power  to  rule,  have  also  the 
right  to  mould  the  opinions  and  form  and  regulate  the  lives  of  the 
rest  of  the  community. 

In  international  law  Dr.  Wharton  wras  a  strenuous  advocate  of 
liberal  principles,  and  in  his  exposition  of  the  policy  of  the  United 
States  he  laid  especial  stress  upon  the  importance  of  preserving  the 
rights  of  neutrals.  Whenever  he  found  a  decision,  either  of  the 
executive  or  of  the  judiciary,  which  seemed  to  him  to  be  unduly 
restrictive  of  those  rights,  he  never  failed  to  combat  it.  There  was 
one  case  in  particular,  arising  out  of  the  civil  war  in  the  United 


222  MEMOIR   OF 

States,  whose  authority  he  never  neglected  an  opportunity  to  con 
trovert.  This  was  the  case  of  the  "  Springbok,"  in  which  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  condemned  a  cargo  bound  for 
a  neutral  (British)  port  on  the  ground  that  it  was  intended  to  be 
transhipped  at  that  port  and  forwarded  on  another  vessel  to  a  port 
then  under  blockade.  His  most  thorough  and  exhaustive  discus 
sion  of  this  case  is  found  in  the  l  International  Law  Digest/  The 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  not  having  been  accepted  by  the 
British  government  as  being  in  conformity  with  the  principles  of 
international  law,  it  was  brought  for  examination  before  the  British- 
American  Claims  Commission,  organized  under  the  treaty  of  Wash 
ington.  That  tribunal  affirmed  the  correctness  of  the  Supreme 
Court's  decision,  notwithstanding  the  able  and  convincing  argu 
ments  urged  against  it.  Among  these  Dr.  Wharton  wyas  wont  to 
refer  with  especial  admiration  to  that  submitted  to  the  Commission 
by  his  lifelong  friend  Mr.  Evarts,  an  argument  full  of  learning 
and  logic,  and  well  worth  the  study  of  any  one  who  desires  to 
comprehend  the  principles  involved. 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  the  last  published  expression  of 
Dr.  Wharton's  views  on  law  and  government  should  have  contained 
a  protest  against  the  doctrine  laid  down  by  the  Supreme  Court 
and  accepted  by  the  Commission  in  the  case  of  the  "  Springbok." 
In  December,  1888,  the  editor  of  'The  Independent'  addressed  a 
letter  to  a  number  of  eminent  men  requesting  suggestions  as  to 
what  changes  were  needed  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
in  order  to  bring  it  "  into  closer  sympathy  with  the  present  status 
of  political  thought."  Dr.  Wharton  was  one  of  the  persons  thus 
addressed,  and  his  reply  was  published,  under  the  title  of  "  ' Patches7 
on  the  Constitution,"  only  a  little  more  than  a  month  before  his 
death.  It  contains  the  most  comprehensive  expression  to  be  found 
in  so  small  a  compass  of  his  opinions  on  law,  politics,  and  govern 
ment,  and  is  in  every  respect  so  characteristic,  both  in  substance 
and  in  style,  that  with  the  consent  of  the  editor  of  '  The  Inde 
pendent'  it  is  republished  as  an  appendix  to  this  sketch. 

It  is  proper  that  something  should  be  said  in  regard  to  Dr. 
Wharton's  style.  In  a  review  of  his  '  Commentary  on  the  Law 
of  Contracts'  a  writer  in  the  English  '  Law  Times'  said  :  "  In 
certain  respects  this  is  a  peculiar  law  book.  It  is  written  with 
more  attention  to  reasonable  elegance  of  style  than  legal  writers 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  223 

usually  practice Full  of  learning  and  research,  it  is  not 

wearisome  to  read.  Matter  is  never  made  the  slave  of  form  ;  but, 
at  the  same  time,  the  author  avoids  those  awkward  and  by  no 
means  perspicuous  attempts  at  expression,  such  as  'and  which'  or 
'  that  that/  which  disfigure  our  text-books  and  judgments.  Lastly, 
in  incidental  sentences  it  will  be  found  that,  in  estimating  the  value 
of  principles,  the  author  employs  a  native  originality  guided  rather 
than  expelled  by  the  process  of  legal  training."  It  is  a  distinctive 
feature  of  Dr.  Wharton's  books  that,  in  addition  to  their  conveni 
ence  and  authority  as  works  of  reference,  they  possess  a  peculiar 
literary  charm.  This  is  due  in  large  measure  to  the  freshness  of 
his  thought  and  the  force  and  vivacity  of  his  forms  of  expression. 
His  tendency  was  to  be  diffuse  rather  than  concise.  He  wrote 
with  such  facility,  and  could  so  easily  command  words  in  which 
to  convey  his  thoughts,  that  he  was  little  given  to  condensa 
tion  ;  but  with  all  the  learning  which  his  works  display  he  never 
gives  the  reader  the  impression  that  his  erudition  was  a  burden  to 
him.  He  read  understandingly,  and  wrote  with  a  view  to  eluci 
date  the  propositions  which  he  wished  to  establish.  He  never 
consciously  or  unconsciously  sought  to  impress  his  views  by  the 
employment  of  that  vague  and  nebulous  style  of  argument  by 
which  the  reader  is  sometimes  led  to  mistake  mysterious  and  in 
tangible  generalizations  for  profundity  of  thought.  If  he  ever 
indulged  in  speculations  which  could  not  be  reduced  to  a  definite 
statement,  he  never  attempted  to  utter  them.  He  often  referred  in 
a  humorous  strain  to  the  mystical  productions  of  writers  whose 
ideas,  he  said,  seemed  to  have  been  absorbed  by  an  "  inverted  per 
spiration."  Dr.  Wharton  always  endeavored  to  be  perspicuous. 
Occasionally  his  sentences  are  somewhat  involved  and  complex  in 
construction,  but  they  are  never  obscure.  They  give  the  impres 
sion  of  having  been  thrown  out  fresh  from  the  writer's  mind,  in 
the  vividness  and  energy  of  rapid  composition.  He  wras  much 
given  to  the  employment  of  a  colloquial  or  dramatic  form  of  ex 
pression,  in  which  the  argument  is  put  into  the  mouth  of  a  person 
who  is  supposed  to  be  speaking  in  an  inartificial  and  familiar  way 
upon  the  proposition  under  discussion.  Another  and  constant 
quality  of  Dr.  Wharton's  style  is  the  subdivision  of  his  argument 
into  separate  parts,  each  one  of  which  is  pursued  and  exhausted  by 
itself.  The  reasons  advanced  in  each  part  are  generally  stated  in 


224  MEMOIR   OF 

the  same  distinctive  and  orderly  way.  This  method  he  always 
employed  in  his  books,  and  the  habit  clung  to  him  even  in  his 
briefer  discussions  and  in  his  purely  historical  writings.  This 
analytical  method  of  statement  imparted  clearness  as  well  as  a  cer 
tain  didactic  quality  to  his  style.  It  was  by  the  employment  of 
a  multitude  of  reasons,  rather  than  by  the  selection  and  repetition 
of  a  single  and  overwhelming  argument,  that  he  sought  to  estab 
lish  his  proposition.  It  was  the  quick  succession  of  blows,  rather 
than  the  single  ponderous  shock,  that  overcame  the  antagonist. 

It  is  often  the  fate  of  writers  who  contribute  in  no  small  degree 
to  mould  opinion  to  be  little  known  except  in  their  books.  The 
life  of  an  industrious  writer  of  treatises  on  law  is  necessarily  spent 
more  or  less  in  seclusion.  He  must  have  time  not  only  for  thought, 
but  also  for  research.  Unlike  the  author  of  descriptions  of  life 
and  manners,  who  acquires  his  knowledge  by  contact  with  men, 
the  writer  on  law  must  glean  the  books  for  his  materials.  His 
writings  have  little  circulation  among  the  mass  of  the  people,  and 
his  labors  do  not  reach  the  popular  imagination  ;  hence  his  person 
ality  is  generally  little  inquired  about  and  little  known.  Dr.  Whar- 
ton,  in  large  measure,  escaped  this  fate.  He  was  fond  of  social 
intercourse.  He  especially  delighted  in  the  society  of  young  men, 
whose  hopeful  views  and  unchilled  enthusiasm  found  a  ready  re 
sponse  in  his  own  ardent  and  progressive  temper.  In  mind  and 
in  thought  he  never  grew  old.  In  his  studies  and  in  his  writings 
he  possessed  all  the  energy  and  vivacity  of  youth.  These  traits  he 
carried  with  him  into  social  life.  Wherever  a  few  persons  were 
gathered  together  for  social  diversion,  and  Dr.  Wharton  made  one 
of  them,  he  was  the  life  of  the  company.  He  led  in  the  conver 
sation,  and  was  always  sparkling,  suggestive,  and  full  of  humor. 
He  was  a  master  of  playful  irony.  It  required  a  quick  and  sym 
pathetic  perception  to  follow  and  appreciate  him,  but  even  those 
who  could  thoroughly  do  neither  could  not  fail  to  catch  the  con 
tagion  of  his  lively  and  spirited  manner.  At  such  times  his  coun 
tenance  was  peculiarly  bright  and  expressive,  and  his  eyes  gave 
anticipatory  flashes  of  the  thoughts  he  was  about  to  utter.  His 
humor  was  of  a  rare  quality,  and  was  turbulent  and  irrepres 
sible.  There  were  few  subjects  so  serious  that  he  could  not  per 
ceive  in  them  a  humorous  aspect.  One  would  scarcely  look  for 
such  things  in  a  work  on  criminal  law ;  but  in  his  treatise  on  that 


DR.    FRANCIS    W1IARTON.  225 

subject  we  find,  under  the  title  of  "  Diversity  of  Knowledge  among 
Judges/7  a  disquisition  on  the  intoxicant  quality  of  liquors,  in  which 
the  cases  and  decisions  are  discussed  both  upon  principle  and  upon 
authority,  but  with  a  liveliness  and  humorousness  of  manner  quite 
unexpected  and  entertaining.  In  the  "  International  Law  Digest" 
we  find  entertainment  and  instruction  peculiarly  combined  in  the 
chapter  oi>  official  and  social  intercourse  of  diplomatic  agents. 
The  humorous  passages  found  in  his  serious  writings  very  well 
illustrate  Dr.  Wharton's  manner  in  general  conversation,  and  show 
the  ease  with  which  he  could  apprehend  and  state  arguments. 

Early  in  1889  Dr.  Wharton's  physical  powers  began  percepti 
bly  to  fail.  An  affection  of  the  throat  with  which  he  had  for  a 
long  time  been  troubled  to  the  serious  impairment  of  his  voice, 
assumed  an  aggravated  form,  rendering  his  breathing  labored 
and  difficult  and  the  effort  to  speak  injurious.  He  was  fully 
conscious  of  the  critical  features  of  his  condition ;  but  of  all  those 
who  were  concerned  in  his  welfare,  he  himself  exhibited  the  least 
anxiety.  He  was  always  reticent  as  to  his  feelings,  and  rarely 
referred  to  the  personal  incidents  of  his  life  ;  but  he  was,  besides, 
not  afraid  to  look  to  the  end.  By  the  first  of  February  his  malady 
had  made  such  rapid  progress  that  it  was  thought  advisable  that  he 
should  go  to  Philadelphia  in  order  that  he  might  undergo  examin 
ation  at  the  hands  of  consulting  specialists.  On  the  morning  of 
the  day  on  which  he  undertook  the  journey,  he  came  to  his  office 
as  usual,  in  order  to  look  over  his  correspondence  and  dispose  of 
any  business  that  might  require  attention.  Although  fully  aware 
of  his  danger,  he  exhibited  no  sign  of  despondency,  but  rather  a 
quiet  determination  to  face  the  worst  that  might  come  without 
faltering.  The  result  of  the  consultation  held  in  Philadelphia 
was  communicated  to  the  writer  in  a  letter  so  illustrative  of  the 
temper  and  disposition  of  the  sufferer  that  it  is  reproduced  in  this 
place. 

"PHILADEJPHIA,  Feb.  4,  1889. 

"  DEAR  MR.  MOORE  : 

"  I  have  been  undergoing  a  thorough  examination  by  a  consult 
ing  committee  of  specialists  to-day,  and  they  coincide  in  saying 
t'hat  there  are  critical  features  in  my  case  which  can  only  be  met  by 
my  being  confined  to  my  house  and  chamber  for  two  weeks  under 
a  specific  treatment.  Now  as  the  disease  is  purely  local,  it  will 
15 


226  MEMOIR   OF 

greatly  amuse  me  if  you  will  send  as  usual  any  papers  which  I 
can  report  upon.  I  will  consider  this  a  particular  favor.  I  will 
also  be  very  glad  to  see  you,  but  I  am  positively  ordered  not  to  say 
a  word,  so  do  not  come  unless  there  is  something  you  can  explain 
to  me  better  by  talking  than  writing.  Now  be  sure  to  send  to  me 
any  questions  that  come  up,  just  as  you  did  before.  Please  show 
this  note  to  Mr.  Bayard,  with  my  love. 

"  I  write  this  in  Philadelphia,  expecting  to  return  to-night. 

"  Ever  yours, 

"F.  W." 

Following  this  letter  was  a  postscript  requesting  that  a  gentleman 
who  was  assisting  him  in  the  correction  of  some  proof-sheets 
would  call  upon  him  at  his  house  immediately  after  his  arrival 
from  Philadelphia. 

After  his  return  from  Philadelphia,  Dr.  Wharton  never  left  his 
chamber.  The  treatment  under  which  he  was  placed  required  close 
confinement  and  absolute  abstention  from  attempts  to  speak.  For 
a  time  it  seemed  to  afford  relief,  and  he  was  encouraged  to  hope 
that  he  might  be  out  again.  It  had  been  suggested  that  it  might 
be  necessary  to  perform  a  surgical  operation  and  the  prospect  that 
this  might  be  avoided  tended  to  dissipate  his  apprehensions.  On 
the  9th  of  February  Dr.  "Wharton  wrote  as  follows : — 

"  DEAR  MR.  MOORE  : 

"Please  send  down  to  my  carriage  a  Congressional  Register, 
giving  a  list  of  congressmen  and  our  foreign  consuls ;  also  twenty 
or  thirty  sheets  of  foolscap  Department  paper ;  also  my  mail  and 
anything  else  you  may  have  for  me.  I  am  getting  decidedly  better. 
The  Salisbury-Sackville  paper  is  excellent.  The  assumption  that 
it  is  for  England  to  determine  how  far  she  will  interfere  in  our 
politics  and  that  by  international  law  she  is  to  be  the  exclusive 
arbiter  of  this,  is  intolerable. 

"  My  lips  are  sealed,  but  I  can  listen,  read,  and  write  all  the 
better." 

The  document  referred  to  as  the  "Salisbury-Sackville  Paper" 
was  the  communication  which  Mr.  Bayard,  on  January  30,  1889, 
addressed  to  Mr.  Phelps,  United  States  Minister  at  London,  in 
reply  to  the  note  of  Lord  Salisbury  in  the  Sackville  case,  in  which 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  227 

his  Lordship  assumed  the  position  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  instead  of  dismissing  Lord  Sackville  from  the  post 
of  British  Minister  at  Washington,  was  bound  to  submit  the  com 
plaints  against  him  to  the  judgment  of  his  Government,  in  order 
that  it  might  decide  whether  they  were  of  such  a  character  as  to 
require  his  removal.  Dr.  Wharton's  brief  note  discloses  the  ac 
tivity  witfr  which  he  continued  to  work ;  and  his  observations  on 
the  Sackville  case,  show  that  his  interest  in  current  public  ques 
tions  had  not  abated,  and  that  he  was  still  capable  of  expressing 
his  views  with  vigor  and  clearness. 

About  the  middle  of  February,  the  symptoms  of  Dr.  Wharton's 
disease  became  more  unfavorable.  He  began  to  experience  greater 
difficulty  in  respiration  and  the  necessity  of  a  surgical  operation 
again  became  imminent.  The  tone  of  his  communications  lost  its 
hopefulness,  but  he  continued  steadily  at  work,  chiefly  upon  the 
'  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  Revolution/  In  a  little  book 
entitled  the  '  Silence  of  Scripture/  published  in  1867,  when  he  was 
rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  in  Brookline,  Massachusetts,  he 
uttered  the  following  thought :  "  The  oars  of  Providence  are 
muffled.  We  know  not  our  hour ;  and  hence,  we  are  to  labor  as 
if  we  were  to  live  forever,  and  trust  as  if  we  were  to  die  to-night." 
As  we  look  upon  his  last  days,  and  observe  the  unostentatious 
heroism  of  his  conduct,  those  words  spoken  twenty  years  before 
seem  prophetic  of  his  end.  A  few  days  prior  to  his  decease  the 
dreaded  operation  was  performed  in  order  to  save  him  from  stran 
gulation  ;  but,  while  the  shock  weakened  his  vital  forces,  he  uttered 
no  complaint,  and  gave  no  sign  of  mental  distress.  Not  long  before 
his  death  he  revised  the  last  proofs  of  the  first  volume  of  the 
'  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  Revolution/  and  his  cor 
rections  betray  no  evidence  of  disturbance  of  thought.  He  was 
laboring  as  if  he  were  "  to  live  forever,"  and  trusting  as  if  he  were 
"  to  die  to-night."  From  the  calmness  of  his  demeanor,  one  might 
suppose  that  he  had  long  lived  in  the  presence  of  death  and  had 
ceased  to  dread  its  near  approach.  His  courage  never  wavered 
and  his  faith  did  not  falter.  The  lofty  purpose,  the  dauntless  reso 
lution,  and  the  abiding  faith  which  had  borne  him  up  through  the 
vicissitudes  of  a  life  of  unremitting  effort,  were  never  shown  with 
greater  clearness  than  in  these  last  moments.  In  the  presence  of 
death  the  secret  of  his  life  was  revealed. 


228  MEMOIR   OF 

Late  at  night  on  the  twentieth  of  February,  1889,  Dr.  Wharton 
made  the  first  confession  of  physical  weakness  which  he  uttered 
during  his  illness.  He  asked  for  nourishment  and  expressed  a 
desire  for  repose.  Then  in  brief  sentences  written  on  slips  of 
paper — for  he  could  not  speak — he  bade  good-night  to  those  who 
were  watching  by  his  bedside  and  begged  them  to  retire  to  rest. 
Soon  after  midnight  on  the  following  morning,  as  he  lay  apparently 
asleep,  he  was  observed  to  turn  his  head.  He  gave  no  sign  of 
anguish  but  at  that  moment  he  ceased  to  breathe. 

On  the  reception  of  the  news  of  his  death  the  Secretary  of  State 
issued  the  following  order  : — 

"DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 

"WASHINGTON,  February  21,  1889. 

"  Dr.  Francis  "Wharton,  the  Solicitor  of  this  Department,  died 
early  this  morning  in  this  city,  and  his  funeral  ceremonies  will  take 
place  on  Saturday  next  the  23rd  instant  at  two  o'clock  P.M.  at  his 
late  residence  No.  2013  Hillyer  Place. 

"  Such  officers  of  this  Department  as  may  desire  to  attend  the 
funeral,  will  not  be  required  to  be  present  at  the  Department  after 
the  hour  of  one  P.M.  on  that  day. 

"  In  making  this  announcement  the  Secretary  of  State  desires 
also  to  place  upon  the  files  of  the  Department  a  mark  of  recogni 
tion  of  the  public  loss  sustained  by  the  death  of  Dr.  Wharton, 
whose  eminence  as  a  Jurist,  and  remarkable  attainments  as  a 
scholar,  are  attested  by  his  writings — and  have  enrolled  his  name 
among  the  most  renowned  publicists  of  our  time. 

"  His  books  upon  the  law  remain  a  monument  to  his  sound 
learning,  wide  research,  and  untiring  industry. 

"Within  the  circle  of  those  permitted  to  enjoy  his  personal 
companionship,  his  memory  will  be  cherished  as  a  beloved  associate, 
an  honorable  gentleman,  and  a  sincere  Christian. 

"T.  F.  BAYARD." 

The  funeral  of  Dr.  Wharton  took  place  on  the  twenty-third  of 
February,  and  was  attended  by  a  large  number  of  his  friends.  He 
was  buried  in  Rock  Creek  Cemetery,  near  the  city  of  Washington. 
He  left  to  survive  him  a  widow  and  two  daughters.  To  attempt  to 
describe  the  life  of  a  man  in  the  nearest  and  tenderest  of  social 


DE.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  229 

relations  always  savors  of  desecration.  From  these  no  hand  should 
seek  to  remove  the  veil  with  which  all  sensitive  natures  wish  to 
shield  their  domestic  life  from  the  eye  of  prurient  curiosity.  The 
remembrance  of  kindness,  sympathy,  and  devotion,  is  the  appropriate 
treasure  of  those  upon  whom  they  are  bestowed. 

It  is  in  keeping  with  Dr.  Wharton's  life  that  no  studied  tribute 
to  his  character,  should  follow  the  account  of  his  death  and  burial. 
As  with  him  the  end  of  existence  was  the  end  of  labor,  so  we  may 
permit  this  brief  sketch  of  his  life  and  works  to  stand  as  his  most 
fitting  eulogy. 


230  MEMOIR   OF 


[THE  INDEPENDENT,  January  10,  1889.] 
"PATCHES"  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

BY    FRANCIS    WHARTON,    LL.D. 

SWIFT,  in  the  "Tale  of  a  Tub,"  likened  the  Christian  record  to 
three  coats  which  a  father  left  to  his  three  sons  with  these  injunc 
tions  :  "Now  you  are  to  understand  that  these  coats  have  two  vir 
tues  contained  in  them  ;  one  is,  with  good  wearing  they  will  last  you 
fresh  and  sound  as  long  as  you  live ;  the  other  is,  that  they  will  grow 
in  the  same  proportion  as  your  bodies,  lengthening  and  widening  of 
themselves,  so  as  to  always  fit."  It  so  happened,  however,  that  the 
oldest  of  the  sons,  conceiving-  that  the  control  of  the  coats  belonged 
to  him,  proceeded  to  cover  them  with  patches  of  whatever  finery  the 
fashion  of  each  succeeding  season  might  make  popular,  destroying, 
thereby,  not  merely  the  excellence  of  their  appearance,  but  their  dura 
bility  and  elasticity.  They  could  not  be  durable  if  they  should  have 
their  substance  subjected  to  the  fastening  on  and  then  the  tearing  off 
of  successive  layers  of  stuff.  They  could  not  be  elastic,  so  as  to  grow 
with  the  body  of  the  wearer,  if  they  were  stiffened  and  clogged  by 
these  heavy  superincumbent  brocades. 

Swift's  coat,  as  he  thus  describes  it,  is  a  symbol  not  merely  of  the 
Scriptural  Records,  but  of  all  systems  which  are  the  products  of  per 
manent  natural  and  social  conditions.  If  they  are  such  products,  they 
represent  in  simplicity  these  conditions,  lasting  as  long  as  they  last, 
growing  as  they  grow,  and  so  enduring  and  adapting  themselves  be 
cause  of  their  very  simplicity.  Chief  among  systems  of  this  character 
is  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  is  the  emanation  of 
such  conditions  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  as  are  permanent. 
It  provides  for  the  co-existence  of  Federal  and  State  sovereignties. 
It  provides  for  the  co-ordination  of  executive,  judiciary  and  legislature. 
It  gives  the  National  Government,  it  gives  each  department  of  that 
government,  certain  clearly  defined  powers,  reserving  to  States  and 
people  all  powers  which  are  not  so  assigned.  In  this  way  it  provides, 
in  case  it  should  not  be  overlaid  with  a  superstructure  of  artificial 
construction,  impairing  at  once  its  durability  and  its  elasticity,  a 
system  of  government  which,  instead  of  being  swept  away  by  new 
social  or  economical  developments,  receives  such  developments  under 
its  own  shelter  as  part  of  a  harmonious  and  yet  progressive  whole. 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  231 

But  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  durable  and  flexible  as 
it  is  itself,  has  had  its  durability  threatened  and  its  elasticity  dimin 
ished  by  factors  not  unlike  those  which  Swift  allegorized  in  the  "Tale 
of  the  Tub."  The  most  potent  and  mischievous  of  these  factors  was 
the  terroristic  hyper-conservatism  called  forth  by  the  French  Revo 
lution.  Among  men  of  conservative  tendencies,  among  men  who 
distrusted  democracy  on  principle,  there  was  a  strong  feeling  that  a 
general  assault  on  vested  rights  was  at  hand,  and  that  they  must  pro 
tect  these  rights  by  all  available  means. 

In  England,  the  school  that  was  thus  generated  was  led  by  Castle- 
reagh,  by  Perceval,  by  Eldon,  followed  by  the  mass  of  the  aristocracy 
trembling  for  their  privileges,  and  by  the  great  body  of  squires  and 
country  gentlemen  who  were  incensed  at  whatever  might  disturb 
their  bovine  mastery  of  their  own  particular  fields.  By  these  classes 
both  Houses  of  Parliament  were  dominated. 

The  accession  to  power,  in  1801,  of  the  Democratic  Party  pre 
vented  the  parallel  reaction  which  had  begun  in  America  from  affect 
ing  the  executive  and  legislative  departments.  But  extreme  Con 
servatives  despaired  of  the  capacity  of  the  Constitution  as  a  barrier 
to  resist  the  torrent  of  Jacobinism  by  which  they  thought  civilization, 
religion,  morality,  threatened.  By  Hamilton  the  fabric  was  spoken 
of  as  "frail  and  worthless;"  by  Gouverneur  Morris  its  failure  was 
lamented,  but,  he  thought,  could  scarcely  be  averted.  All  that  could 
be  done  would  be  to  prop  it  up  by  buttresses  arid  strengthen  it  by 
exterior  walls  which  might  make  it  a  fortress  in  which  privileges 
could  be  protected,  instead  of  a  temple  in  which  liberty  was  to  reign 
by  maintaining  the  full  and  harmonious  play  of  State  and  Federal 
Rights,  and  by  securing  to  the  people  the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of 
business  facilities  and  of  political  privileges  within  the  respective 
orbits  of  state  and  of  nation. 

There  was  one  great  and  courageous  statesman  and  judge,  however, 
who  shared  the  convictions  of  Hamilton  and  Morris  without  sharing 
their  despair,  and  who,  in  his  position  as  Chief  Justice  of  the  United 
States  from  1801  to  1835,  aided  by  an  unbroken  ascendancy  over  his 
associates,  was  able  to  impose  on  the  Constitution  constructions 
which  were  designed  to  protect  existing  institutions,  and  to  repel 
Jacobinical  assaults,  but  which  tend  to  deprive  it  of  much  of  that 
elasticity  and  comprehensiveness  on  which  its  durability  as  well  as 
its  utility  depend. 

Marshall's  great  moral  and  intellectual  gifts,  as  well  as  his  capacity 
as  a  chief  of  conservatism  in  its  then  supreme  conflict  with  liberalism 
can  be  best  measured  by  comparing  him  with  Eldon,  who  led  the 


232  MEMOIR   OF 

same  forces  in  England.  Eldon  had  nothing  to  do  with  politics  in 
his  court  which  as  an  equity  tribunal,  excluded  such  considerations; 
but  he  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  them  in  the  cabinet,  in  which,  as 
Lord  Chancellor,  he  held  a  leading  position.  Marshall  had  nothing 
to  do  with  politics  off  the  bench,  but  on  the  bench  he  dealt  with  them 
in  the  broadest  and  most  effective  way,  as  a  large  part  of  the  business 
of  his  court  consisted  in  settling  questions  of  high  constitutional  law. 
Both  were  men  of  great  political  courage,  yet  Eldon,  while  prompt 
and  bold  in  the  cabinet,  was  singularly  hesitating  and  procrastinating 
on  the  bench,  while  Marshall  when  in  court  never  doubted  his  con 
clusions,  announcing  them  promptly  and  emphatically  and  with  a 
clearness  and  simplicity  in  singular  contrast  with  the  turgidity  and 
involution  of  Eldon's  style.  Both  were  consummate  managers  of 
men,  but  Eldon's  management  was  that  of  the  supple  courtier,  Mar 
shall's  that  of  the  majestic  chief.  Eldon  was  a  tactician,  maneuver 
ing  for  present  vantage  ground;  Marshall  a  strategist,  planning 
campaigns  whose  field  should  be  an  empire  and  whose  duration  an 
era.  Eldon's  powers  were  weakened  by  his  jobbery,  his  greed,  his 
avarice  ;  Marshall's  grandeur  was  enhanced  by  his  homely  simplicity 
of  life,  his  scorn  of  jobbery,  his  indifference  to  wealth,  showing  in  his 
own  person  how  little  accumulated  hoards  of  money  have  to  do  with 
greatness  of  the  highest  type.  Both  were  great  lawyers,  but  while 
Eldon  was  far  more  proficient  in  the  delicate  and  intricate  departments 
of  equity,  Marshall  surpassed  him  in  the  application  of  common  sense 
to  the  molding  of  common  law.  Eldon's  Court  of  Chancery,  as  such, 
is  now  swept  away,  tho'  many  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  laid  down  by 
him  in  equity  are  accepted  as  part  of  the  dominant  law  of  England  5 
and  one  of  the  reasons  why  his  court,  as  such,  fell  under  the  ban  was 
the  discredit  cast  on  it  by  his  procrastination,  his  irresolution  and  the 
enormous  expense  his  system  of  patronage  imposed  on  suitors. 
Marshall's  court  is  now  the  strongest  and  most  influential  tribunal  in 
the  world  ;  and  this  is,  in  a  large  measure,  due  to  the  matchless 
dignity  he  imparted  to  it,  and  the  strong,  plain,  ready  sense  which 
his  example  set  for  its  judgments.  And  in  their  political  achieve 
ments  the  contrast  is  still  more  marked.  The  result  of  Eldon's 
political  labors — the  black  acts,  the  repressive  and  bloody  legislation 
as  a  whole,  which  his  resolute  voice  had  so  large  a  part  in  forcing 
through— are  now  utterly  vanished.  But  the  constructions  Marshall 
imposed  on  the  Constitution  still  remain  in  greater  or  less  vigor.  It 
has  been  a  great  misfortune  for  the  country  that  some  of  these  con 
structions  have  served,  like  the  tags  and  patches  put  on  Swift's  coat, 
to  impair  seriously  the  comprehensive  simplicity  and  the  paucity  of 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  233 

limitation  which  adapt  that  great  document,  as  it  stands  in  the  origi 
nal  text,  to  each  stage  of  business  or  economical  development  as  it 
arrives.  Some  of  the  more  damaging  of  the  restrictive  "patches" 
thus  imposed,  I  now  proceed  to  consider. 

1.  Purchase  and  sale  of  negotiable  paper,  loaning  money  on  such 
paper  or  on  other  assets,  purchase  of  goods  to  meet  advances  at  home 
or  abroad,  ^are  matters  which  can  be  best  arranged  and  adjusted  by 
the  competition  of  private  interests,  and  which  are,  therefore,  not 
within  the  scope  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  can 
not  be  brought  within  its  operation  without  destroying  that  very 
capacity  of  adaptation  to  successive  ep6chs  which  gives  it  perma 
nency  and  comprehensiveness.     In  May,  1781,  as  a  war  measure — 
the  war  being  then  at  its  height,  and  the  Treasury  insolvent — Congress 
chartered  the  first  national  bank,  under  the  title  of  the  Bank  of  North 
America.     In  February,  1791,  when  the  country  had  scarcely  emerged 
from  the  turmoil  of  the  war,  when  collisions  with  France  and  with 
Spain  were  threatened,  and  when  Britain  still  refused  to  fulfil  the 
stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  a  charter  was  granted  to  the  first 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  with  powrer  to  discount  commercial  paper 
and  to  issue  exchange  on  deposits  of  assets.     In  February,  1816,  a 
charter  to  the  same  effect  was  again  granted,  as  a  measure  of  Gov 
ernment  relief,  in  the  suspension  of  banking  operations  which  the 
War  of  1812  precipitated.     This  charter,  if  sustainable  at  all,  was 
sustainable,  as  were  those  of  1781  and  1791,  on  the  ground  that  a 
government  bank  was  necessary  to  restore  to  its  normal  state  the 
currency  which  the  prior  war  had  deranged.     But  in  February,  1819, 
when  credit  was  restored,  trade  returned  to  its  natural  channel,  and 
the  country  entering  upon  a  full  course  of  enterprise  calling  for  un 
fettered  business  activity,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
Chief  Justice  Marshall  delivering  the  opinion,   held  that,  not  as  a 
war  measure,  but  as  a  permanent  system  of  government,  Congress 
could  constitutionally  put  in  operation  a  bank  whose  functions  would 
include  the  buying  and  selling  of  commercial  paper,  and  the  issuing 
of  exchange  on  deposits  of  all  kinds,  speculative  as  well  as  actual. 
Of  this  construction  that  by  which,  many  years  afterward,  it  was 
held  within  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to  force  purchasers 
of  goods  to  take  irredeemable  paper  money  in  payment,  and  even  to 
turn  gold  contracts  into  paper  contracts,  was  a  natural  outcome. 

2.  The  determination  to  protect  existing  institutions  from  the  sup 
posed  enmity  of  democracy,  culminated  in 'the  Dartmouth  College 
case,  decided  in  the  same  term  as  that  which  affirmed  the  constitu 
tionality  of  the   Bank  of  the  United   States.     Dartmouth   College 


234  MEMOIR   OP 

was  then  existing  under  a  royal  charter  which  the  Legislature  of 
New  Hampshire  undertook  to  amend.  The  Supreme  Court  held 
that  such  amendment  was  inoperative,  because  a  college  corporation 
is  a  "private"  and  not  a  "public"  corporation,  and  because  charters 
of  private  corporations  are  contracts  which,  under  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  a  state  cannot  lawfully  impair.  The  reasoning 
of  the  court  brought  not  merely  colleges,  but  banks,  insurance  com 
panies,  and  common  carriers,  when  incorporated,  under  the  head 
of  "private"  corporations,  so  that  privileges  and  immunities  and 
monopolies  once  granted  to  them  could  not  be  withdrawn.  If  that 
decision  had  remained  operative,  a  charter  giving  a  stage  corporation 
the  exclusive  perpetual  right  to  convey  passengers  from  point  to  point 
would  have  shut  out  any  other  carriers  or  any  other  method  of  carriage 
forever  from  the  route  ;  a  charter  empowering  them  to  fix  their  own 
rates  would  make  those  rates  unassailable ;  a  charter  giving  the  owners 
of  a  particular  reservoir  the  exclusive  right  to  supply  a  city  with 
water,  would  prevent  any  other  water  supply,  no  matter  how  inade 
quate  such  a  reservoir  should  prove.  Had  this  "  patch"  been  unalter 
ably  worked  into  the  texture  of  the  Constitution,  its  life  would  have 
been  short.  "  If  you  persist  in  your  supposed  conscientious  con 
viction  that  you  must  veto  all  bills  removing  religious  tests,  your 
Majesty's  crown,"  so  the  Duke  of  Wellington  substantially  told 
George  IV.,  "must  fall."  The  majesty  of  the  Constitution  would 
have  been  subjected  to  a  like  fate  if  it  was  held  to  contain  provisions 
which  made  perpetual  every  monopoly,  no  matter  how  odious,  that 
had  been  created  in  the  past. 

3.  By  the  law  of  nations,  as  construed  by  the  Continental  Con 
gress,  and  in  the  sense  in  which  the  term  was  used  in  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  freedom  of  the  seas  is  secured  to  neutral 
merchant  ships  with  certain  well-defined  restrictions.  They  cannot, 
without  peril,  after  notice,  enter  a  blockaded,  belligerent  port,  and 
they  are  liable  to  confiscation  if  they  attempt  such  entrance.  They 
are  subject  to  be  searched  at  sea  for  contraband,  and  such  contraband 
can  be  confiscated  if  found  on  board ;  but  the  term  contraband  is 
limited  to  munitions  of  war  destined  for  belligerent  use.  Outside  of 
these  bounds  they  are  entitled  to  traverse  the  high  seas  without 
molestation,  and  they  can  become  carriers  for  belligerents  and  for 
belligerent  property,  the  rule  being  that  free  ships  make  free  goods. 
Over  and  over  again  Congress,  during  the  Revolution,  affirmed  these 
positions,  and  a  solemn  adhesion  was  given  by  it  to  the  armed  neu 
trality  which  adopted  them  as  the  basis  of  its  existence.  It  was  with 
no  slight  exultation  at  the  prospect  of  prosperity  that  such  a  system 


DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON.  235 

would  bring  to  American  shipping  that  Franklin  expatiated  on  the 
benignity  and  wisdom  of  a  policy  which  discouraged  belligerency 
and  encouraged  peace,  and  which  would  give  the  hardy  seafaring 
population  of  America  the  control  of  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world. 

But  other  views  were  promulgated  by  England  when  engaged  in 
her  struggle  with  Napoleon.  Her  great  enemy  had  from  time  to 
time  the  mastery  of  the  Continent  of  Europe ;  she  must  sink  unless 
she  obtained  the  undisputed  mastery  of  the  seas.  Then  there  ema 
nated  from  her  courts  a  series  of  judgments  greatly  extending  belli 
gerent  privileges  and  greatly  diminishing  neutral  rights.  Merely 
constructive  blockades  were  sanctioned,  and,  under  what  was  called 
the  doctrine  of  continuous  voyages,  it  was  held  that  if  goods  were 
designed  (a  question  as  to  which  prize  courts  leaned  naturally  against 
neutrals)  for  blockade-running,  they  could  be  seized  at  any  point  on 
the  road,  though  they  were  to  be  transshipped  at  an  intermediate  port. 
Contraband  was  swollen  so  as  to  include  whatever  was  of  value  to  the 
belligerent,  for  whose  use  it  was  supposed  to  be  intended.  So  far 
from  free  ships  making  free  goods,  enemy's  goods  were  held  open  to 
seizure  under  neutral  flags,  and  neutral  ships  could  be  searched  for 
them ;  and  the  question  of  belligerent  ownership  was,  like  all  other 
disputed  questions,  to  be  left,  when  the  seizure  was  by  a  British 
cruiser,  to  a  British  prize  court,  the  fees  of  whose  officers  depended 
in  a  large  measure  on  making  good  the  capture,  and  whose  prepos 
sessions  were  all  in  favor  of  strengthening  belligerent  power  in  favor 
of  Britain,  then  in  a  struggle  almost  for  national  existence. 

We  must  not  look  too  harshly  on  the  tendency  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  to  sustain,  though  sometimes  in  faltering 
tones,  those  modifications  of  the  law  of  nations  which  came  across 
the  Atlantic  under  the  great  name  of  Lord  Stowell,  clothed  in  the 
fascinating  diction  of  which  that  judge  was  a  master,  and  appealing 
to  the  community  of  feeling  which  made  Americans  as  well  as  Eng 
lishmen  look  with  aversion  at  the  unscrupulous  ambition  of  Napoleon 
which  aimed  at  the  subjugations  of  all  civilization  to  his  own  rapa 
cious  will.  England,  to  many  minds,  seemed  the  only  bulwark 
against  this  lawless  Caesarism  on  the  one  side,  and  an  equally  lawless 
Jacobinism  on  the  other  side  ;  and  much  as  we  may  be  amazed, 
considering  what  went  before,  and  what  came  after,  at  the  devotion 
shown  by  leading  Federalists  to  England  in  those  dark  days,  we 
must  be  content  to  acknowledge  that  this  devotion  was  at  that  junc 
ture  felt  by  some  of  the  purest  and  noblest  men  our  country  has  ever 
produced.  It  was  not  strange,  then,  that  our  Supreme  Court  should 
then  have  receded  from  the  revolutionary  doctrine  of  free  seas,  and 


236  MEMOIR   OP 

should  have  in  a  measure  sustained  the  destructive  views  introduced 
by  English  courts  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  from  destruction 
British  maritime  supremacy,  and  with  it  the  cause  of  revolution 
itself.  Nor  was  it  strange  that  when  we  ourselves  became  belliger 
ents,  we  should  accept  these  doctrines,  perilous  as  they  are  to  neutral 
maritime  rights,  as  settled  law.  But  it  is  ground  for  profound  grief 
as  well  as  amazement  that  as  late  as  December,  1866,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  in  the  famous  case  of  the  Springbok,  should 
have  held  that  it  was  good  ground  to  confiscate  the  cargo  of  a  neutral 
merchant  ship,  that  the  ship,  at  the  time  of  search  and  seizure,  was 
on  the  way  to  an  intermediate  neutral  port  for  transshipment  to  a 
blockaded  port  of  the  enemy,  though  the  seizure  was  made  a  thousand 
miles  off  from  the  port  of  final  destination.  When  this  ruling  was 
made,  the  Civil  War,  by  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Court,  had 
been  closed  for  nearly  a  year.  We  were  at  peace  with  all  the  world. 
Our  merchant  shipping,  it  is  true,  was  driven  from  the  seas,  but  there 
was  every  prospect,  on  the  basis  of  international  law,  as  the  Constitu 
tion  meant  it,  of  our  old  maritime  strength  being  renewed.  Our  future 
had  neutrality  almost  indelibly  stamped  on  it,  while  the  future  of  the 
Old  World  was  marked  by  war  which  made  each  great  sovereignty 
an  armed  camp  and  filled  each  great  port  with  swift  cruisers  ready, 
in  case  of  conflict,  to  pounce,  not  merely  on  an  enemy,  but  on  neutrals 
who  might  presume  to  do  any  carrying  trade  on  the  high  seas.  With 
such  a  prospect  before  us  we  deliberately  gave  away  the  opportunity 
of  covering  the  seas  with  our  merchant  service.  No  wonder  the 
English  law  officers  chuckled  with  delight  at  such  a  surrender  on  our 
part,  and  declined,  before  the  mixed  commission  afterward  consti 
tuted,  to  impeach  the  Springbok  ruling.  It  made  England,  already 
dominant  on  the  seas,  master  not  only  of  her  shipping,  but  of  ours. 
It  would  enable  her  next  time  she  goes  to  war  with  a  European  foe, 
to  cut  matters  short,  and,  in  addition  to  blockading  her  enemy's  ports 
of  entrance,  to  blockade  our  ports  of  exit,  and  to  say  :  "  You  are  the 
feeders  of  my  enemy — from  you  come  the  grain  and  other  staples 
which  nourish  him — in  addition  to  enlarging  the  list  of  contraband 
so  as  to  comprehend  most  stores.  I  now,  in  conformity  with  your 
own  law,  as  propounded  in  the  Springbok  case,  blockade  your  ports 
so  as  to  keep  your  ships  from  carrying  out  anything  the  enemy  might 
use.  You  blockaded  my  neutral  port  of  Nassau  ;  /  blockade  your. 
neutral  port  of  New  York."  It  is  not  strange  that  American  ship 
ping  should  languish  when  under  such  a  ban  as  this. 

Such  are  among  the  "patches"  which  have  been  woven  into  our 
constitutional  coat  by  its  guardians,  and  which  so  far  as  they  are  per- 


DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON.  237 

manent,  take  from  it  the  property  which  originally  belonged  to  it  of 
growing  with  our  growth.  One  of  these  patches,  that  imposed  by 
the  Dartmouth  College  decision,  has  been  substantially  got  rid  of, 
partly  by  overruling  by  the  court  itself,  partly  by  constitutional 
amendments  in  most  States  which  preclude  granting  charters  without 
reservation  of  power  of  amendment.  The  "patch"  which  assumed 
to  the  Federal  Government  the  power  to  sell  exchange  to  create  illu 
sory  currency  and  to  absorb  banking  privileges,  has  been  removed,  so 
far  as  it  sanctioned  a  national  government  bank,  by  popular  action  ; 
but  it  remains  in  its  worst  feature  in  the  legal-tender  ruling  by  which 
it  is  held  that  Congress  can,  as  a  permanent  peace  system,  force  the 
reception  of  irredeemable  paper  in  payment  of  debts  old  as  well  as 
new.  And  the  Springbok  ruling,  while  repudiated  by  the  executive 
branch  of  the  Government,  still  remains  unassailed  in  the  records  of 
the  judiciary. 

The  Constitution  itself  requires  no  amendment ;  but  what  is  re 
quired  is  the  removal  from  it  of  the  "patches,"  impairing  its  sym 
metry,  its  comprehensiveness,  its  elasticity  and  its  durability,  which 
have  been  imposed  on  it  by  the  judiciary. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  WASHINGTON,  D.  0. 


APPENDIX. 


AMONG  the  public  testimonials  that  came  in  large  number  to 
express  sympathy  and  appreciation  after  his  death,  the  following 
are  selected  for  publication  : — 

•'THE  COLUMBIAN  UNIVERSITY, 

"WASHINGTON,  March  1,  1889. 
"  MY  DEAR  MRS.  WHARTON  : 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Faculty  and  students  of  the  Law  School 
of  the  Columbian  University,  held  in  the  Lecture  Hall  of  the 
University  on  the  25th  ultimo,  the  following  preamble  and  reso 
lutions  were  unanimously  adopted  in  honor  of  the  memory  of  our 
late  beloved  colleague,  Dr.  Francis  Wharton.  The  paper  was  pre 
pared  by  Professor  Maury,  and  was  prefaced  with  some  brief  re 
marks  in  which  I  bore  my  humble  tribute  to  the  vast  learning, 
the  gracious  virtues,  and  the  exalted  worth  of  your  lamented  hus 
band. 

"  You  and  your  family  are  called  to  sit  at  the  point  where  the 
shadow  of  this  great  bereavement  is  deepest,  but  the  shadow  falls 
with  an  oppressive  weight  on  the  hearts  of  thousands  besides. 

"  With  sincere  sympathy,  I  am 

"  Yours  most  truly, 

"JAMES  C.  WELLING." 

"in  glnwrtam. 

"  Preamble  and  resolutions  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  Faculty  and 
students  of  the  Columbian  University,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
death  of  FRANCIS  WHARTON,  LL.D. 

"  The  unlooked-for  death  of  our  learned  friend,  Dr.  Francis 
Wharton,  will  be  felt  in  this  country  and  Europe  as  a  serious  loss 
to  jurisprudence,  and  has  deprived  the  Faculty  of  the  Columbian 


240  MEMOIR   OF    DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON. 

University  of  a  member  who  was  devoted  to  her  welfare  and  ever 
ready  to  take  part  in  her  work,  even  when  it  seemed  hardly  pos 
sible  that  he  could  find  time  to  do  so,  and  at  the  risk  of  aggra 
vating  a  malady  which  never  left  him,  and  which  may  have  con 
tributed  to  his  death.  His  sacrifice  of  convenience  for  the  purpose 
of  lending  his  cooperation  to  the  cause  of  legal  education  in  this 
University  will  be  remembered  with  aifectionate  gratitude.  Of  his 
lectures  it  is  but  the  truth  to  say  that  they  were  as  interesting  as 
learning  and  felicity  of  style  and  manner  could  make  them,  and 
were  listened  to  with  an  intense  and  ever-growing  interest. 

"  Dr.  Wharton's  labors  as  an  author  have  made  his  name  familiar 
to  every  lawyer  in  the  country  for  many  years. 

"  The  profession  owe  him  much  for  the  frequency  with  which  he 
directs,  in  his  discussions,  the  minds  of  his  readers  to  the  sources 
of  jurisprudence  to  be  found  in  the  majestic  remains  of  the  Roman 
law  and  the  works  of  the  jurists  of  Germany  and  France ;  and 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  general  aptness  of  these  refer 
ences,  and  the  absence  of  display  in  making  them,  have  had  and 
will  continue  to  have  a  tendency  to  excite  a  desire  for  studies 
which  give  a  philosophical  habit  of  thought  and  at  the  same  time 
embellish  the  professional  mind. 

"  He  belonged  to  the  historical  school  of  jurisprudence.  In  his 
1  Commentaries  on  American  Law7  he  introduces  us  to  the  opinions 
of  Savigny  and  other  jurists  of  Europe  of  that  school,  and  what  he 
says  there  about  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  being  but 
the  appropriate  expression  of  a  deep-laid  and  long  pre-existent  sen 
timent  of  the  popular  mind  of  the  thirteen  colonies  was  confidently 
appealed  to  recently,  by  a  distinguished  jurist,  to  show  the  fallacy 
of  the  remark  of  the  great  commoner  of  England  that  our  plan  of 
federal  government  was  struck  off  at  one  heat,  like  the  Constitu 
tion  or  the  rescript  of  a  Roman  emperor. 

"  It  is  a  satisfactory  mark  of  the  estimate  that  was  placed  abroad 
on  Dr.  Wharton's  juridical  labors  that  he  was  made  a  member  of 
that  august  fellowship,  the  Institute  of  International  Law.  The 
honor  thus  conferred  may  be  said  to  have  been  fairly  reciprocated 
by  the  important  contribution  of  his  '  Digest  of  International  Law/ 
which,  in  addition  to  being  a  service  to  the  world,  must  tend  to 
promote  consistency  and  continuity  in  the  foreign  policies  of  the 
United  States.  So  favorably  impressed  was  Congress  by  this  work 


APPENDIX.  241 

that,  at  its  last  session,  it  directed  that  the  series  of  state  papers 
known  as  the  '  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  Revolution' 
should  be  edited  by  him  with  legal  and  historical  notes.  It  will 
be  a  cause  for  regret  if  it  should  turn  out  that  he  died  before  com 
pleting  this  work. 

"  When  we  contemplate  his  intellectual  excellence  and  the  graces 
and  purity*  of  his  character,  and  that  beautiful  simplicity  which 
belonged  to  him  and  which  always  goes  hand  in  hand  with  a 
nature  that  is  truly  superior,  we  have  before  us  a  man  of  whom 
his  country  may  justly  be  proud  :  therefore,  be  it  resolved: 

"  1.  That  in  the  death  of  Dr.  Francis  Wharton  we  deplore  the 
loss  of  a  jurist  whose  labors  have  added  lustre  to  the  fame  of  his 
country  in  the  field  of  jurisprudence. 

"  2.  That  in  his  elevated  and  stainless  character  we  see  reflected 
the  influence  of  the  teachings  of  the  great  science  to  which  he  dedi 
cated  so  large  a  part  of  his  life. 

"3.  That  we  tender  the  family  of  the  deceased  our  sincere 
sympathy. 

"  4.  That  the  chairman  be  and  he  is,  hereby,  requested  to  send  a 
copy  of  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  to  the  family  of  the  de 
ceased,  and  to  take  the  proper  steps  to  have  the  same  entered  in 
the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  University. " 

"  The  burial  of  the  Rev.  Francis  Wharton,  L.L.D.,  who,  for  the 
last  three  years,  has  resided  in  Washington,  took  place  on  February 
23,  the  services  being  conducted  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  H.  Elliott, 
and  the  Rev.  A.  Harding.  This  distinguished  jurist  was  long  con 
nected  with  the  Cambridge  Divinity  School,  and  for  several  years 
past  with  the  State  Department.  His  works  are  standard  ;  and  are 
a  text-book  in  one  of  our  best  law-schools." 


"FRANCIS  WHARTON,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Faculty  of  the  Episcopal  Theological 
School,  held  February  25,  1889,  the  following  action  was  taken  in 
regard  to  the  death  of  Francis  Wharton,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  late  Solici 
tor  of  the  Department  of  State,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"I.  The  Faculty  of  this  school  desire  to  express  their  great  ad- 

16 


242  MEMOIR   OF    DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON. 

miration  of  Dr.  Wharton's  abilities,  both  as  a  jurist,  the  field  in 
which  he  served  his  country  well  and  '  long,  and  as  theologian, 
in  which  he  served  not  his  Church  only  but  American  Chris 
tendom. 

"  II.  Their  sense  of  the  great  service  rendered  by  him  to  this 
school  at  its  inception,  as  organizer,  administrator,  and  general 
adviser. 

"  III.  Their  grateful  recollection  of  many  years  of  personal  inter 
course  with  him  as  a  member  of  this  Faculty  and  in  the  hospitable 
freedom  of  his  home. 

"  IV.  They  resolve  that  the  above  action  be  entered  on  their 
records,  and  that  the  Secretary  be  requested  to  send  a  copy  of  the 
same  to  Mrs.  Wharton,  conveying  to  her  at  the  same  time  the 
assurance  of  their  participation  in  the  irreparable  personal  loss 
sustained  by  herself  and  her  family.  Also  that  a  copy  be  sent  for 
publication  in  'The  Churchman/ 

".ALEXANDER  V.  G.  ALLEN, 

"  Secretary  of  the  Faculty. 
"  CAMBRIDGE,  February  25,  1889." 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  *  St.  Peter's  by  the 
Sea/  held  at  Narragansett  Pier,  K.  Island,  on  Monday,  June  24, 
1889,  the  death  of  Francis  Wharton,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  having  been 
announced,  the  following  Resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

"  Resolved. — That  the  Trustees  of  <  St.  Peter's  by  the  Sea'  have 
heard,  with  pain,  of  the  death  of  their  long  honored  friend  and 
associate,  as  having  occurred,  since  their  last  annual  meeting. 

u  Resolved. — That,  as  individuals,  we  cherish  the  memory  of  our 
agreeable  intercourse  with  him,  here  and  elsewhere,  during  many 
years  past. 

"  Resolved. — That,  as  members  of  this  Board,  we  gratefully  recall 
the  steadfast  interest,  which  he  has  displayed,  and  the  valuable 
services  which  he  has  rendered  since  the  first  organization  of  the 
Board — his  judicious  counsels — his  ready  contributions  of  time, 
efforts,  and  money,  in  aid  of  the  important  measures,  which,  from 
time  to  time,  have  come  before  us. 

"  Resolved. — That  we  tender  to  his  family  our  sincere  sympathy 
with  them  in  their  bereavement,  and  the  assurance  of  our  warmest- 
wishes  for  their  happiness  and  welfare. 


APPENDIX.  243 

"Resolved. — That  the  Secretary  be  requested  to  place  these 
Resolutions  on  the  Minutes  of  the  Board,  and  to  transmit  a  copy 
of  them  to  Mrs.  Wharton. 

"CHAS.  E.  BOON, 

"  Secretary." 

"  WALTHAM,  MASS.,  July  16,  1889. 

:t  MY  DEAR  MRS.  WHARTON  : 

•"  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts  Church  Missionary 
Society  holden  in  Boston,  the  Secretary  announced  the  lamented 
death  of  Dr.  Wharton,  and  the  following  minute  was  adopted  and 
ordered  to  be  placed  upon  the  records  : — 

"  Whereas,  since  the  last  meeting  of  this  Society  the  Rev.  Francis 
Wharton,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  has  been  removed  from  the  scene  of  his 
earthly  labors,  Resolved,  That  we  put  upon  record  our  high  appre 
ciation  of  his  many  distinguished  qualities,  and  his  efficient  service 
both  to  the  church  and  the  country.  Dr.  Wharton  was  for  several 
years  an  active  member  of  this  Society,  and  we  cherish  an  affecting 
memory  of  his  wise  counsels  and  genial  presence.  As  a  zealous 
and  valued  member  of  our  executive  committee  he  contributed  very 
much  to  the  usefulness  and  prosperity  of  this  Society. 

"  Resolved. — That  the  Secretary  be  instructed  to  communicate  this 
action  to  his  family,  with  an  assurance  of  our  very  deep  sympathy. 

"  Very  sincerely  y'rs, 

"TIIOS.  F.  FALES. 

From  the  <  Churchman'  is  taken  the  following  tribute  from  the 
able  pen  of  Bishop  Leonard,  of  Ohio. 

"THE  REV.  FRANCIS  WHARTON,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  BORN  1820, 

DIED  1889. 

"BY   KEY.    W.   A.   LEONARD,    D.D. 

"  The  secular  and  religious  newspapers  have  made  mention  in 
the  past  few  days  of  the  life  and  death  of  a  remarkable  man — the 
Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Wharton.  I  do  not  propose  to  sketch  an  outline 
of  his  varied  career,  nor  can  I  hope  to  do  justice  to  his  great  gifts. 
Suffice  it  only  to  indicate  some  of  his  characteristics.  The  places 
he  once  occupied,  and  the  distinguished  positions  he  has  filled  with 
marked  ability  and  conscientious  fidelity,  bear  full  testimony  to  his 
skill  and  his  worth,  while  they  measure  the  advances  he  made  in 


244  MEMOIR   OF    DR.  FRANCIS   WHARTON. 

the  several  departments  of  learning  which  his  presence  adorned 
and  his  full  scholarship  enriched.     We  are  apt  to  turn  to  Germany 
and  England  for  our  profound    types  of  thought  and  erudition. 
From  time  to  time  we  hear  that  this  new  land  of  enterprise  and 
material  advance  has  failed  as  yet  to  produce  the  philosopher,  the 
laborious  student,  or  the  profounder   intellectual  cultivation  that 
belongs  to  the  cloisters  and    universities  of  the  older   centres  of 
learning  across  the  seas.     Let  us  not  be  too  oblivious  of  our  own 
development,  or  blind  to  the  character  and  quality  of  brain  and 
soul    that   is    produced    now    in    our   own    fresher   environment. 
Because  in  all  departments  of  life  and  letters,  it  is  splendidly  true 
that  men  of  devoted  effort,  and  keenest  scientific  force — and  pro 
found  intellectual  grasp — and  phenomenal  industry  and  persevering 
patience,  are  being  born  here  among  us,  and  are  serving  their  gen 
eration,  of  whom  the  world  of  two  continents  may  well  be  proud. 
Dr.  "Wharton  takes  his  place  among  this  galaxy  of  scholais.     His 
fellow  countrymen  have  reason   to  be  justly  appreciative  of  his 
talents  and  his  distinctions,  and  his  Church  has  good  reason  to  be 
thankful  for  the  powers  which  he  consecrated  to  her  service.     The 
work  done  by  Dr.  Wharton  in  Philadelphia,  in  Kenyon  College,  at 
Cambridge,  and  finally  here  at  Washington,  was  characterized  by 
sedulous  attention,  deepest  investigating  effort,  large  grasp,  accurate 
accumulation,  direct  utilization  and  dominating  strength.    His  work 
was  not  evanescent,  but  lasting ;  it  lives,  and  he  lives  in  it !    He 
projected  his  investigations  into  remotest,  loneliest  and  most  diffi 
cult  fields — whether  in  theology,  philosophy,  history,  or  law.     He 
read  and  wrote  continuously  and  constantly ;  in  these  later  years, 
when  holding  the  conspicuous  and  honorable  office  of  law  adviser 
to  the  State  Department,  his  toil  through  winter  and  summer  was 
subject  of  remark  and  of  admiration.     He  was  always  busy  with 
his  books  and  papers,  yet  always  kindly  attractive  and  willing  to 
impart  to  others  what  he  had  so  diligently  and  carefully  hived  and 
stored.     His  mind  was  encyclopedic ;  he  was  an  authority,  and  a 
very  agreeable  authority  on  such  topics  and  subjects  as  were  sub 
mitted  to  him  for  an  opinion.     His  works  on  theology,  on  inter 
national  law,  on  medical  jurisprudence,  on  the  criminal  code ;  his 
knowledge  of  history,  arts,  inventions ;   his  great  learning  in  all 
these  branches  made  him,  though  one  of  the  simplest  and  most 
modest  of  men,  one  of  the  great  scholars  of  his  day.     In  speaking 


APPENDIX.  245 

of  him  to  Dr.  Welling,  the  president  of  our  Columbian  University, 
here  at  the  capital,  the  following  graceful  expression  was  drawn 
forth,  and  I  transcribe  it  most  gladly  as  the  added  ornament  to 
this  simple  chaplet  of  remembrance  I  would  lay  upon  his  grave : 
'  Having  been  honored  with  Dr.  Wharton's  friendship  during  the 
last  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  I  had  come  to  be  acquainted  with  the 
extent  a»d  accuracy  of  his  learning  not  only  in  theology  and  juris 
prudence,  but  also  in  civil  and  political  history — especially  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  British  and  American  affairs.  His  knowledge 
here  was  surprisingly  minute. 

"  '  Only  a  fe\v  days  before  his  death  I  had  occasion  to  consult  him 
on  an  obscure  point  in  our  revolutionary  annals  (the  part  which 
Richard  Henry  Lee  is  alleged  to  have  had  in  the  cabal  against  Gen. 
Washington),  and  I  had  no  sooner  stated  my  question  than  fact 
after  fact  came  pouring  from  his  full  mind  in  answer  to  my  inquiry. 
This  is  only  one  of  the  many  instances  in  which  I  have  profited  by 
the  wide  range,  and  at  the  same  time,  the  thoroughness  of  his 
knowledge  in  our  political  history.  He  seemed  as  much  at  home 
in  the  "  untrodden  way7'  as  in  the  beaten  paths/ 

"  Indeed,  this  good  man,  who  bore  the  mark  of  the  priest  and 
prophet  on  his  heart,  while  he  carried  the  lamp  of  truth  in  his 
hand,  fulfilled  the  outline  of  the  Roman  Cicero  when  he  said,  '  I 
speak  of  that  learning  which  makes  us  acquainted  with  the  bound 
less  extent  of  nature  and  the  universe  and  which,  even  while  we 
remain  in  this  world,  discovers  to  us  both  heaven,  and  earth,  and 


[FROM  THE  EPISCOPAL  KECORDER.] 
"FRANCIS  WHARTON,  D.D,  LL.D. 

"  The  public  press  a  short  time  since  recorded  the  death  in  Wash 
ington  of  one  whose  name  was  familiar  to  most  of  those  who  were 
acquainted  with  the  long  continued  struggles  in  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  our  own 
beloved  refuge  therefrom. 

"While  speaking  of  the  achievements  of  Francis  Wharton, 
LL.D.,  the  Associated  Press  also  mentioned  the  fact  that  he  was 
at  one,  time  editor  of  the  '  Episcopal  Recorder/  Nor  is  the  time 
so  far  removed  that  many  of  our  older  readers  cannot  recall  the 
force  and  ability  with  which  the  work  of  the  paper  was  carried  on 
under  his  management. 


246  MEMOIR   OF   DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON. 

"  Possessing  rare  mental  qualities,  and  a  memory  stored  with  an 
abundance  of  material  always  at  hand,  Dr.  Wharton  had  a  felicity 
of  style  rarely  surpassed,  while  his  discrimination  and  critical 
acumen,  added  to- his  clear  conceptions  of  the  truth,  made  him  a 
writer  not  easily  equalled  in  the  realm  of  evangelical  journalism. 
These  characteristics  were  manifested  by  Dr.  Wharton  equally  in 
the  authoritative  legal  treatises  which  have  given  him  an  enduring 
reputation,  and  from  their  pages  could  easily  be  culled  extracts 
which  would  prove  the  compatibility  of  the  profoundest  legal  lore 
with  the  distinctive  principles  always  upheld  by  the  '  Recorder.' 
Those  principles  have  continued  to  be  maintained  by  the  '  Recorder* 
through  every  vicissitude  and  many  changes,  and  to-day,  with  what 
ever  difference  of  ability  in  its  conduct,  the  very  same  fundamental 
principles  underlie  its  columns  that  led  to  its  establishment  more 
than  sixty  years  ago,  thus  attaching  to  its  name  and  history  a  sig 
nificance  which  hardly  belongs  to  any  other  of  our  contemporaries. 

"  While  editing  the  l  Recorder'  Dr.  Wharton  was  a  layman  ; 
later  in  life  he  entered  the  ministry,  continuing  in  active  service  in 
Massachusetts  for  several  years.  Precluded  from  preaching  how 
ever  by  an  affection  of  the  throat,  which  grew  more  serious  until 
the  time  of  his  death,  he  resumed  in  some  measure  his  legal  labors, 
producing  in  this  period  of  his  life  some  of  his  most  elaborate  and 
highly  esteemed  treatises.  Indeed,  unceasing  activity  was  a  con 
dition  of  his  being,  and  we  question  whether  there  was  a  day  in 
which  he  did  not  produce  something  that  was  to  pass  through  the 
printer's  hands.  The  last  four  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  the 
service  of  the  State  Department,  where  he  shed  lustre  upon  a  posi 
tion  in  itself  subordinate,  which  was  tendered  him  by  the  party 
recently  in  control  of  the  government. 

"  Possessed  of  a  most  genial  nature,  and  of  wide  and  generous 
sympathies,  few  men  made  more  warm  and  enduring  friendships, 
or  enjoyed  a  larger  circle  of  more  than  passing  acquaintances. 

"  The  writer  of  these  lines  gazed  upon  the  pallid  features  of  our 
predecessor  after  the  all-conquering  hand  of  death  had  been  laid 
upon  them.  The  placidity  and  sweetness  there  fixed  gave  indica 
tions  of  the  permanent  influence  exerted  by  the  moulding  hand  of 
character,  and  the  lineaments  of  the  earthly  tabernacle  so  soon 
to  pass  away,  gave  the  sweet  impression  of  rest  attained,  and  of 
work  accomplished. 


APPENDIX.  247 

"  In  one  of  the  last  conversations  it  was  our  pleasure  to  hold 
with  Dr.  Wharton,  we  found  him  maintaining  the  same  religious 
opinions  he  so  ably  advocated  in  these  columns  many  years  before, 
though  he  was  not  one  of  those  who  felt  impelled  to  sever  his  con 
nection  with  the  Church  of  his  youth  when  Bishop  Cummins  took 
the  step  for  which  so  many  had  long  waited,  and  of  which  so  few 
comparatively  availed  themselves. 

"Bound  to  him  by  many  personal  ties,  the  writer  can  testify  to 
the  kindliness  which  flowed  from  his  heart,  and  which  conveyed  so 
much  pleasure  to  those  around  him,  and  which  often  turned  the 
edge  of  an  otherwise  keen  criticism.  When  his  end  was  approach 
ing  he  calmly  met  the  event  with  entire  submission  to  God's  will, 
and  without  a  pang  he  passed  from  earth  to  the  presence  of  Christ. 

"  Others  may  well  speak  of  the  active  labors  in  which  he  was 
engaged  at  Gambier,  at  Cambridge,  and  through  the  active  years 
of  his  early  life,  labors  unceasing,  earnest  and  valuable,  by  which 
he  sought  to  advance  the  cause  of  Christ  and  to  preserve  the  truth 
in  its  purity  within  the  Church  of  his  love.  Our  duty  is  ended 
when  we  make  this  slight  allusion  to  his  connection  with  the 
'  Episcopal  Recorder/  and  add  one  flower  to  the  chaplet  which 
will  be  deservedly  woven  to  his  memory." 

Of  the  letters  from  friends  and  neighbors,  from  early  associates, 
from  clergymen  and  laymen  who  had  known  and  loved  Dr.  Whar 
ton  and  mourned  his  death  there  is  scarcely  room  in  this  memo 
rial.  It  has  rarely  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  man  who  has  won  a 
place  in  public  esteem  to  have  so  endeared  himself  in  private  life 
that  his  death  should  evoke  such  universal  sympathy.  Nothing 
but  the  fear  of  violating  private  correspondence  has  restrained  us 
from  printing  some  of  these.  Two,  however,  to  which  the  consent 
of  the  writers  has  been  obtained,  are  given  below  : — 

"WILMINGTON,  Del.,  May  13,  1890. 

"  MY  DEAR  MRS.  WHARTON  : 

"  The  two  notes  written  to  your  dear  husband  by  me  were  read 
with  much  feeling,  recalling  as  they  did  a  relation  always  full  of 
respect,  confidence,  and  personal  affection. 

"  Certainly,  print  them  if  you  desire  to  do  so.  We  were  so  much 
together  that  nearly  all  our  most  intimate  correspondence  was  in 


248  MEMOIR   OF   DR.,  FRANCIS   WHARTOST. 

scraps  of  notes,  by  messengers,  and  conversations  in  the  State  De 
partment. 

"  ]S~o  one  could  have  enjoyed,  or  left,  as  the  legacy  of  his  life,  a 
higher  or  more  enviable  reputation  than  Dr.  Wharton,  and  I  shall 
have  a  sincere,  even  if  melancholy,  pleasure  in  the  memorial  pro 
posed. 

"  The  order  issued  by  the  Secretary  of  State  on  the  occasion  of 
Dr.  Wharton's  funeral  was  written  wholly  by  me,  and  is  a  very 
restrained  expression  of  the  sense  of  public  and  private  loss  then 
sustained. 

"  It  was  always  a  deep  satisfaction  to  me  to  have  been  instru 
mental  in  bringing  the  virtues,  ability,  and  character  of  your  hus 
band  into  the  service  of  the  country,  and  making  his  real  worth 
and  accomplishments  better  known  to  his  countrymen.  Believe  me 
to  be,  dear  Madam,  "  Faithfully  yrs., 

"T.  F.  BAYARD. 

"MRS.  FRANCIS  WHARTON." 

The  second  of  the  notes  referred  to  is  as  follows : — 

"DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
"WASHINGTON,  April  30,  1887. 

"  MY  DEAR  DOCTOR  : 

"  I  heard  with  great  concern  of  your  indisposition,  and  urge 
upon  you  great  care  in  this  most  treacherous  weather. 

"  I  suppose  that  to  work  is  now  your  second  nature,  and  that 
like  the  retired  butcher,  who  refreshed  himself  by  killing  a  lamb 
now  and  then,  you  will  tear  up  the  claim  of  some  poor  innocent 
slave  trader,  and  expose  reasons  why  he  should  not  be  paid  for 
want  of  success  in  the  line  of  his  pursuits.  Mr.  Moore  and  I  are 
hammering  into  shape  a  third  column  of  '  deadly  parallel'  to  the 
observations  of  the  British  Foreign  Office  in  our  proposal  for  an 
arrangement  of  the  fisheries. 

"  I  begin  to  have  some  small  hopes  that  the  Canadians  may  not 
press  us  to  the  wall,  and  compel  non-intercourse,  and  sincerely  I 
hope  that  good  sense  may  rescue  our  important  trade  from  the 
senseless  folly  of  the  lex  talionis. 

"  Take  care  of  yourself,  my  good  friend — you  are  wanted  in 
this  world,  and  among  the  rest 

"  By  your  attached  friend, 

"T.  F.  BAYARD. 
"DR.  FRANCIS  WHARTON." 


APPENDIX.  249 

The  other  tribute  is  from  the  distinguished  pen  of  the 

HON.  ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP. 

"UPLANDS,  BKOOKLINE,  Mass.,  21  Sept.,  1889. 
"  MY  DEAR  MRS.  WHARTON  : 

"I  ana  most  glad  to  learn  that  you  are  preparing  a  memoir  of 
your  lamented  husband.  Few  things  would  afford  me  greater 
satisfaction  than  to  contribute  in  ever  so  small  a  degree  to  its  com 
pletion.  I  counted  Dr.  Wharton  for  many  years  among  my  most 
intimate  and  valued  friends,  and  the  longer  I  knew  him  the  more 
I  regarded  him  as  one  of  the  most  accomplished  men  of  our  time. 

"  I  recall  the  interest  with  which  I  listened  to  his  sermons  while 
he  was  rector  of  our  Brookline  '  St.  Paul's/  and  the  even  greater 
interest  with  which  I  read  the  lectures  which  he  delivered  and 
published  on  '  The  Silence  of  Scripture.7 

"  Meanwhile  his  valuable  and  efficient  services  in  building  up 
our  Episcopal  Divinity  School  at  Cambridge,  of  which  he  was 
long  a  Professor  and  sometime  the  Dean,  were  familiar  to  me  as 
one  of  the  original  trustees.  He  will  be  remembered  at  Cam 
bridge,  as  well  as  at  Brookline,  by  many  warm  friends,  and  the 
school  will  always  include  him  among  its  earliest  benefactors. 

"But  he  will  be  longest  remembered  in  his  relations  to  juris 
prudence  and  international  law.  His  labors  in  this  field  were  of 
the  highest  character,  and  I  trust  that  they  will  be  dealt  with,  in 
the  proposed  memoir,  by  some  competent  hand.  I  have  spent 
many  an  hour  with  him,  quite  recently,  in  the  State  Department  at 
Washington,  while  he  was  at  work  on  his  admirable  '  Digest'  and 
after  he  had  entered  on  new  researches,  and  I  was  always  impressed 
with  his  singular  adaptation  to  that  position.  Alas,  that  he  should 
have  been  taken  away  so  suddenly  from  a  sphere  which  hardly  any 
one  else  could  fill  so  well  !  We  may  look  long  in  vain  for  such 
rich  accomplishments  and  so  large  a  capacity  for  public  usefulness, 
combined  with  so  genial  and  affectionate  a  nature  in  private  life. 

"  I  need  not  say  how  sorry  we  all  were  to  hear  of  his  death,  and 
deeply  we  sympathize  with  you  and  his  daughters  in  this  afflicting 
bereavement. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Mrs.  Wharton,  with  great  regard, 

"  Yours  sincerely, 

"ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP. 
"MRS.  FRANCIS  WHARTOX." 


250  MEMOIR   OF    DR.    FRANCIS    WHARTON. 

The  revered  ex-President  of  Yale  College,  Dr.  Noah  Porter,  has 
sent  us  the  following,  and  it  is  peculiarly  gratifying  to  be  able 
to  give  in  the  words  of  one  who  knew  something  of  the  earlier  life 
of  Dr.  Wharton,  the  closing  tribute  of  this  volume  : — 

"  It  is  some  fifteen  years  since  the  beginning  of  my  acquaintance 
with  the  late  Dr.  Francis  Wharton,  an  intimacy  which  matured 
into  a  warm  friendship  which  I  would  fain  hope  may  be  ripened 
in  another  life.  I  was  at  Peacedale  in  Rhode  Island,  on  a  brief 
visit  at  the  charming  home  of  the  kindly  and  hospitable  philosopher, 
the  late  Rowland  Hazard,  when  he  proposed  that  we  should  call  on 
Dr.  Wharton  at  his  cottage  some  three  miles  distant,  near  Narra- 
gansett  Pier,  and  looking  out  upon  the  open  ocean.  This  call  led 
in  the  next  season  to  an  unexpected  but  most  cordial  invitation  from 
the  Doctor  that  I  would  spend  a  week  most  unceremoniously  at  the 


cottage. 


"  I  could  not  easily  withstand  the  attraction  of  the  place,  and  the 
simple  cordiality  of  the  family  of  my  host,  and  as  a  consequence 
for  some  twelve  years  or  more  I  enjoyed  a  midsummer  day  dream, 
"the  spells  of  wrhich  were  controlled  by  Dr.  Wharton  as  the  master 
spirit. 

"  It  is  not  easy  to  interpret  or  describe  the  secret  of  his  power 
or  the  charm  of  his  genius.  That  he  was  no  common  man  is  evi 
dent  from  the  variety  of  work  which  he  attempted  ;  and  from  the 
fact  that  he  performed  it  so  well,  also  from  the  fact  that  he  com 
manded  the  attention  and  received  the  respect  of  so  great  a  number 
and  so  great  a  variety  of  men  each  eminent  in  his  specialty. 

"  As  we  review  his  life,  we  should  not  forget  that  he  was  Editor, 
Essayist,  Advocate,  Preacher,  Ecclesiastical  Lawyer,  College,  Sem 
inary,  and  Law  School  Professor,  and  voluminous  Author  in  a  Legal 
and  Political  sense.  Last  of  all,  not  least,  he  became  Legal  Ad 
visor  to  the  State  Department  at  Washington,  on  points  connected 
with  International  Law. 

"  We  learn  from  those  who  knew  him  intimately  when  in  College 
that  he  was  by  no  means  a  hard  or  painful  student,  but  performed 
his  tasks  with  singular  ease  and  rapidity,  outstripping  his  older 
competitors  with  little  effort,  indeed,  and  with  so  little  as  to  turn 
his  tasks  into  pastimes.  We  know  that  before  he  had  attained  his 
majority  he  had  taken  sides  as  an  editor  and  political  partisan 
against  the  traditions  of  his  family,  and  this  not  alone,  if  so  some- 


APPENDIX.  251 

what,  with  the  riant  sportiveness  of  jubilant  youth  as  with  the 
graver  earnestness  of  incipient  manhood.  The  after  development 
that  came  with  bereavement  and  seemed  to  change  the  current  of 
his  inner  life  will  tell  its  own  story  as  it  alone  can  explain  how  his 
manhood  emerged  into  a  new  and  unexpected  form — at  once  so 
serious,  so  thoughtful,  so  strong,  and  again  so  gay,  so  sportive,  and 
so  dependent  upon  others. 

"  The  Christian  Catholicity  of  his  temper  and  position  were 
most  interesting  when  viewed  as  the  ripened  product  of  his 
knowledge  of  the  world. 

"  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  his  opinions  in  respect  to  the 
relation  of  ecclesiasticism  to  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
in  this  country  may  have  changed  under  the  varied  experiences 
of  his  ministry  in  Ohio  and  Rhode  Island,  while  his  personal  rela 
tions  as  preacher  and  rector  were  always  most  satisfactory,  as  they 
were  eminently  unselfish,  while  to  his  associates  in  the  ministry  his 
wisdom  and  technical  knowledge  could  be  no  other  than  a  boon. 
The  preparation  and  proof-reading  of  so  many  bulky  Law  Treatises 
involved  a  discipline  to  the  most  accurate  and  painstaking  habits, 
while  the  higher  ethical  and  religious  aspects  of  Jurisprudence 
imparted  a  dignity  and  sacred  ness  to  jural  and  legal  philosophy 
which  seemed  to  turn  the  driest  of  his  morning  studies  into  acts 
of  cheerful  worship. 

"  To  those  who  knew  Dr.  Wharton  I  need  not  recall  the  gentle 
humanity  which  lent  such  a  charm  to  his  manner  and  invested  the 
occasional  plainness  of  his  speech  with  an  indescribable  sweetness. 

"  His  unselfish  interest  in  the  summer  residents  and  the  transient 
guests,  who  came  and  went  to  and  from  the  Pier  with  the  summer 
weeks  and  months,  will  be  gratefully  remembered  by  scores  of  the 
recipients  of  his  unexpected  attentions.  His  painstaking  services 
and  his  unwearied  efforts  for  their  personal  comfort  and  social 
enjoyment  exemplified  to  not  a  few  some  new  conception  of  the 
injunction  to  be  '  given  to  hospitality/ 

"  It  need  not  be  said  that  such  a  life  as  his  was  a  very  busy  life 
and  that  there  was  reason  to  fear  that  it  might  suddenly  be  cut 
short.  Dr.  Wharton  had  himself  begun  to  heed  the  voice  of 
warning  and  to  contract  his  sphere  of  public  and  professional  duty 
when  he  was  invited  to  the  post  of  all  others  which  his  previous 
studies  had  qualified  him  to  occupy  with  satisfaction  to  himself 


252  MEMOIR   OF   DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTOKT. 

and  to  his  friends.  To  occupy  this  post  involved  no  partisan 
allegiance  nor  even  political  sympathy,  but  simply  a  mastery  of 
the  public  Law  in  its  history  and  its  principles  as  a  guide  for  the 
public  action  of  its  officials.  No  post  could  be  more  honorable  or 
more  independent,  and  it  was  accepted  with  a  just  appreciation  of 
its  value,  but  it  was  taken  to  be  relinquished,  and  thus  to  add  one 
more  to  the  many  lessons  which  point  us  to  another  life  as  the 
explanation  and  completion  of  the  life  we  live  on  this  earth/' 


APPENDIX.  253 


AMONG  the  numberless  reviews  and  criticisms  of  his  legal  writ- 

o 

ings  we  select  the  following  as  doing  partial  justice  to  his  merits  : — 

V  "FRANCIS  WHARTON. 

"  The  death  is  announced  of  Francis  Wharton  at  Washington  on 
the  21st  of  February,  1889,  of  a  complication  of  throat  troubles. 

"  Prof.-Wharton  was  born  in  1820,  at  Philadelphia,  of  distin 
guished  ancestry,  many  members  of  the  race  having  won  eminence 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  having  affiliations  with  prominent  South 
Carolina  families.  He  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1839,  at 
the  age  of  nineteen,  and  after  completion  of  the  requisite  legal  cur 
riculum,  he  was  appointed,  in  spite  of  his  youth,  to  an  assistant 
attorney-generalship  in  his  native  State  and  city.  This  gave  the 
ambitious  young  lawyer's  attention  a  bent  towards  criminal  law. 
Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  libraries  of  lawyers  fifty  years  ago 
will  appreciate  the  value  to  the  then  practitioner  of  any  good  work 
upon  any  subject.  The  young  prosecuting  attorney,  as  an  induc 
tion  from  his  court  labors,  published  his  well-known  work  on 
criminal  law,  which  has  ever  since  held  its  ground  in  the  helluo 
librorum  that  have  been  issued  since  from  the  American  press. 
The  work  gave  the  young  man  both  reputation  and  financial  re 
ward,  and  probably  induced  him  to  regard  law  authorship  as  there 
after  his  special  branch  of  the  profession.  There  was  nothing  in 
Prof.  Wharton's  temperament  which  restricted  him  to  the  study  of 
merely  criminal  law.  His  work  (in  connection  with  Stille)  on 
medical  jurisprudence,  his  singularly  able  treatise  upon  private 
international  law,  his  elaborate  work  on  contracts,  and  his  labors 
on  the  law  of  evidence,  indicate  how  broad  was  his  grasp  of  the 
field  of  jurisprudence.  His  studies  have  led  to  his  selection  as  a 
professor  for  different  chairs  in  law  schools  and  elsewhere.  We 
believe  that  from  1869  till  his  death  he  was  an  instructor  in  the 
Boston  University.  From  1856  to  1862  he  occupied  a  chair  of 
ethics  and  constitutional  law  in  Kenyon  College,  Ohio,  whither  he 
was  led  by  his  strong  affection  for  the  Low  Church  side  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  of  which  that 
school  was  an  educational  nursery. 


254  MEMOIR   OF    DR.    FKAXCIS    WHARTON. 

"As  the  writer  of  this  tribute  to  his  memory  remembers  him  at 
that  date,  his  lectures  on  Theism  were  strong  expositions  of  the 
attitude  and  reasoning  of  the  Evangelical  Christian  upon  the  then 
growing  agnosticism  or  skepticism  rife  inside  and  outside  the  Epis 
copal  communion,  and  which  now  find  their  index  in  the  pages  of 
works  such  as  '  Robert  Elsmere.'  These  lectures  were,  perhaps,  in 
many  respects  a  shooting  over  the  heads  of  his  audience  j  but  there 
was  one  noticeable  charm  about  the  instruction  he  strove  to  impart, 
it  was  the  wealth  of  illustration  which  he  drew  from  his  youthful 
experience  at  the  Philadelphia  bar,  and  from  a  period  when  the 
earlier  greatness  of  the  republic  still  held  dominion  over  the  practice 
of  the  law  either  by  tradition  or  in  the  personal  presence  of  men, 
the  compeers  of  Webster,  Choate,  and  Binney. 

"  The  last  formal  employment  of  Dr.  Wharton  was,  we  believe, 
that  of  law  adviser  to  the  State  Department  at  Washington.  While 
a  Democrat  in  politics,  of  the  old  State-rights  school,  Prof.  Whar- 
ton  never  abandoned  the  impartial  attitude  of  a  lawyer  weighing 
with  deliberation  every  political  or  legal  proposition ;  and  it  is  no 
over-statement  to  characterize  his  employment  under  the  outgoing 
administration  as  one  of  the  fittest  and  most  illustrious  for  the 
capacity  wherein  he  acted  that  could  have  been  made. 

"As  above  suggested,  Prof.  Wharton  was  a  devoted  churchman 
in  his  church.  He  took  orders,  and  at  one  time  narrowly  escaped 
election  as  bishop  or  assistant  bishop  of  Kentucky." 

"WHARTON'S  CRIMINAL  PLEADINGS  AND  PRACTICE.* 

"  The  ninth  edition  of  this  work  has  just  been  issued.  The  text 
has  been  condensed  in  some  places,  but  new  matter  has  been  in 
serted,  so  that  it  is  now  a  volume  of  nearly  nine 'hundred  pages. 
It  contains  the  law  as  it  is  to-day,  and  to  those  engaged  ig  criminal 
practice  it  is  of  great  assistance.  The  revision  of  this  volume  was 
about  the  last  labor  of  Prof.  Wharton,  and  it  will  rank  among  the 
best  of  his  writings.  He  wrote  the  first  edition  when  he  was  quite 
young — -just  entering  on  his  career  as  a  law-writer — and  this  edi 
tion  is  issued  just  as  he  had  reached  the  end.  A  comparison  of  the 

*  A  Treatise  on  Criminal  Pleading  and  Practice,  by  Francis  Wharton, 
LL.D.,  author  of  Treatises  on  Criminal  Law,  Evidence,  Conflict  of  Laws,  and 
Negligence;  9th  ed.  Philadelphia:  Kay  &  Brother,  1889.  887pp.;  $6. 


APPENDIX. 

two  editioDS  shows,  not  only  the  growth  of  this  branch  of  legal 
learning  during  the  last  thirty  odd  years,  but  the  effect  of  the 
author's  experience. 

"  Now  that  Prof.  Wharton  is  dead,  it  may  not  be  out  of  place 
for  me  to  add  here  a  few  words  of  tribute  to  him.  He  had  a  legal 
mind  in  the  best  sense  of  that  term.  He  appreciated  the  nicest 
distinction^,  and  discriminated  closely  and  clearly.  His  mind  was 
philosophical ;  he  treated  his  subjects  in  that  manner;  he  examined 
questions  fully  upon  authority,  and  often  went  beyond  authority 
into  exhaustive  discussions  upon  pure  principle.  He  is  best  known 
as  a  law-writer,  not  as  a  practitioner,  although  he  was  for  some 
years  engaged  in  active  practice  at  Philadelphia. 

"  His  writings  show,  not  merely  a  thorough  knowledge  of  legal 
principles  based  upon  the  common  law,  but  an  extensive  knowledge 
and  familiarity  with  the  civil  law.  His  early  writings  evidenced 
an  inclination  to  treat  of  subjects  relating  to  the  criminal  branch  of 
our  profession,  as  witness  his  works  on  Criminal  Law,  Precedents 
of  Indictments  and  Pleas;  but  in  his  later  years  he  wrote  his 
admirable  works  on  Negligence,  Evidence  in  Civil  Issue's,  Com 
mentaries  on  American  Law,  and  Conflict  of  Laws. 

"  The  last  named  is,  perhaps,  his  greatest  work.  The  style  of 
his  writings  is  remarkably  succinct  and  forcible,  wasting  no  words, 
yet  leaving  no  thought  imperfectly  expressed.  He  wrote  rapidly 
— exceedingly  so — but  he  corrected  his  manuscript  with  great  care. 
If  a  word  did  not  suit  him,  or  if  he  believed  it  capable  of  a  mean 
ing  different  from  the  one  intended,  or  did  not  express  the  finished 
thought  of  his  mind,  it  was  discarded  and  another  sought.  His 
industry  was  wonderful.  His  endurance  seemed  to  know  no  limit. 
If  not,  perhaps,  our  country's  greatest  law-writer,  he  certainly  was 
one  of  the  best,  and  no  one  can  gainsay  that  he  was  the  severest 
student  and  sturdiest  laborer  of  them  all." 


"DR.  FRANCIS  WHARTON. 

"  The  life  work  of  Dr.  Francis  Wharton  was  so  far  and  so  much 
of  a  purely  technical  character  that  his  reputation  in  his  profession 
far  overtopped  his  fame  outside  of  the  bar.  Yet  the  death  of  such 
a  man  is  as  much  of  a.  loss  to  the  public  as  to  publicists,  and  it 
leaves  relatively  as  wide  a  gap  in  letters  as  in  law,  for  Dr.  Wharton 


256  MEMOIR   OF   DR.    FRANCIS   WHARTON. 

maintained  and  preserved  to  our  own  day  the  earlier  tradition  of 
our  juridical  science  which  made  a  text-book  in  law  an  addition  to 
literature. 

"The  value  of  his  works  to  the  bar  of  his  own  day  has  been 
sufficiently  shown  by  their  sale ;  but  this  compliment  is  but  too  often 
paid  to  treatises  to  which  it  is  possible  to  attach  importance  only 
until  some  new  compilation  supersedes  them.  The  volumes  with 
which  Dr.  Wharton  enriched  the  literature  in  which  American 
letters  has  some  of  its  noblest  monuments,  owed  to  style  and  philo 
sophic  arrangement  no  small  part  of  the  value  they  possessed,  and 
it  is  these  qualities  which  render  permanent  the  work  of  a  jurist. 
For  in  law  as  in  all  else,  the  form  of  a  great  work  decides  its 
survival,  although  it  is  powerless  alone  to  give  it  value.  It  is  one 
of  the  many  proofs  of  the  business  character  our  law  is  taking  that 
form  is  ceasing  to  be  of  much  consequence  in  decision,  brief  or 
discussion.  Codes,  valuable  as  they  may  be,  have  done  incalculable 
injury  in  the  last  forty  years  to  the  practice  of  law  as  an  art  in 
stead  of  as  a  mere  pursuit. 

"Beginning  his  work  as  a  legal  writer  just  when  the  foundation 
of  American  jurisprudence  had  been  laid  by  Kent  and  Story,  Dr. 
Francis  Wharton  turned  his  early  attention  to  criminal  law  and 
did  much  by  his  treatment  and  discussion  to  unite  and  co-ordinate 
the  legislation  and  practice  of  our  various  States  in  a  branch  of  law 
which  only  in  the  rarest  instances  comes  for  review  before  the 
Federal  Supreme  Court  and  in  which  the  tendency  towards 
differing  systems  is  strong.  His  great  work  on  American  statute 
law  is  certain  to  have  a  like  influence  in  another  field  and  con 
tributes  one  of  the  powerful  agencies  which  unconsciously  keep 
our  jurisprudence  marching  abreast  in  its  development  under  many 
jurisdictions." 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


MAY  2    1940 

f\D  9  °   1071    ft  K 

on  O  9 

REC'D  LD  MAY 

171-5PM52 

u^  IIM>  Ew 

$ 

INTtR-LIBRARY 

M1^11  1974 

LD  21-100m-7,'39(402s) 

975783 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


